•! :  •; 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


GIFT  OF 

Mrs.  George  Papashvily 


A  NEW  UNIFORM  EDITION. 


POPULAR    NOVELS 

BY 

AUGUSTA  EVANS  WILSON. 


1.  INEZ |1.50 

2.  BEULAH 1.50 

3.  MACARIA "  1.50 

4.  ST.  ELMO 1.50 

5.  VASHTI 1.50 

6.  INFELICE 1.50 

7.  AT  THE  MERCY  OF  TIBERIUS        .  1.50 

8.  A  SPECKLED  BIRD  (New}  .       ,       .  1.50 


'Who  has  not  read  with  rare  delight  the  novels  of  Augusta 

Evans?    Her  strange,  wonderful  and  fascinating-  style; 

the  profound  depths  to  which   she  sinks  the  probe 

into   human   nature,    touching1   its   most   sacred 

chords  and  springs;  the  intense  interest  thrown 

around  her  characters,  and  the  very  marked 

peculiarities  of   her  principal  figures, 

conspire  to  give  an  unusual  interest 

to  the  works  of  this  eminent 

Southern  authoress." 


All  published  uniform  with  this  volume,  and  sent  FREE 
by  mail,  on  receipt  of  price,  by 

«.  W.   DILLINGHAM    CO.,   PUBLISHERS, 
NEW  TORE. 


A  SPECKLED  BIRD 


WHAT  THE  CRITICS  SAY  OF 

A  SPECKLED  BIRD 

By  AUGUSTA  EVANS  WILSON 


u  Mrs.  Wilson  is  not  a  novelist  that  writes  hastily.  It  is  sixteen 
years  since  she  gave  her  last  book,  '  At  the  Mercy  of  Tiberius,'  to  the 
world,  and  now  she  comes  '  to  those  kind  readers,  known  and  unknown, 
who  have  desired  her  to  write  again,'  with  a  story  as  vigorous,  as  pas 
sionate  and  as  compelling  in  its  interest  as  any  that  has  ever  proceeded 
from  her  pen." — Charleston  News  and  Courier. 

"  There  is  a  tragic  under  current  in  it  all,  like  a  Maeterlinck  theme, 
a  passionate  note  of  sorrow,  a  story  of  intense  dramatic  interest  that 
never  loosens  its  hold  upon  the  reader  for  a  moment,  while  it  ends 
happily." — Birmingham  Age-Herald. 

"  This  new  romance  will  possess  for  us  a  charm  not  unlike  that 
which  we  would  feel  if  Sir  Walter  Scott  could  in  some  way  dictate 
another  romance  through  some  occult  medium  and  give  it  to  the  world. 
'  A  Speckled  Bird '  is  an  absorbing  romance  well  worthy  of  this  de 
lightful  Southern  writer." — Memphis  Commercial  Appeal. 

"  Her  style  is  easy  and  her  imagination  never  falters.  It  cannot  be 
denied  that  her  school  is  an  ethical  force,  for  by  it  a  great  circle  receives 
fiction  which  ever  teaches  the  triumph  of  righteousness  and  the  ruin  of 
wrong." — Boston  Daily  Advertiser. 

"  There  is  not  one  perfunctory  word  in  it.  Mrs.  Wilson's  view  of 
life  and  her  attitude  toward  her  characters  are  never  blase.  She  ex 
hibits  extreme  solicitude  about  the  destiny  of  her  men  and  women,  and 
by  that  unfeigned  interest  she  succeeds  in  compelling  interest  on  the 
part  of  her  reader  hardly  second  to  her  own."; — Chicago  Daily  Tribune. 

*'  It  is  a  piece  of  work  far  better  than  many  of  the  '  best  selling 
novels '  of  recent  seasons.  Mrs.  Wilson  proves  that  she  is  a  vigorous 
and  able  veteran  of  letters,  and  it  will  be  welcomed  by  all  the  quondam 
admirers  of  '  St.  Elmo/  They  are  legion." 

— ELEANOR  M.  HOYT,  in  The  Book  Buyer. 

"  Far  above  the  average  work  of  fiction." — Louisville  Courier -Journal. 
"  How  absolutely  sweet  and  clean  and  wholesome  is  the  atmosphere 
of  the  story !  It  could  not  be  anything  else  and  come  from  her  pen." 

— Brooklyn  Eagle. 

"  We  like  the  stately,  old-fashioned  way,  with  honest  intensities,  and 
we  have  read  with  pleasure  and  admiration  'A  Speckled  Bird,'  by 
Augusta  Evans  Wilson.  Augusta  Evans — a  strong  and  a  known  name, 
in  sound  and  in  memory  significant  of  power." — N.  Y.  Sun. 


Hundreds  of  testimonials  pronounce  it  as  standing:  in 
the  highest  rank  of  modern  fiction* 

izmo,  $%  x  1%  inches,  426 pages,  cloth  bound,     $1.50. 

G.  W.  DILLINGHAM  CO.,  Publishers,  NEW  YORK 


SPECKLED  BIRD 


BY 

AUGUSTA  EVANS  WILSON 

AUTHOR    OF   "ST.    ELMO,"   "VASHTI,"  "INFELICE,"    "AT    THE 
MERCY  OF  TIBERIUS,"  ETC. 


**  As  a  speckled  bird,  the  birds  round  about  are  against  her.*' 


G.  W.   DILLINGHAM  COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS  NEW  YORK 


COPYRIGHT,  1902,  BY 
G.  W.  DILLINGHAM  COMPANY 


A  Speckled  Bird.  Issued  August, 


GIFT 


PS  3  33  2 


ZTO 
MY   KIND   READERS 

KNOWN  AND  UNKNOWN,  WHO  HAVE  DESIRED  AND  ASKED 

ME  TO  WRITE  AGAIN,  THESE  PAGES  ARE  OFFERED 

IN    GRATEFUL    RECOGNITION   OF   VERY 

LOYAL  FRIENDSHIP  DURING 

MANY  YEARS 


035 


A    SPECKLED    BIRD 


CHAPTER  I 

"Grandma,  who  named  me  Eglah?" 

"  My  cousin,  Bishop  Vivian,  when  he  baptized 
you." 

"  Do  you  think  he  had  any  right  to  put  such  a 
label  on  me?  " 

"  Certainly,  because  your  father  selected  your 
name,  and  the  bishop  had  no  choice." 

"  It  is  so  ugly,  I  never  can  like  it,  and  a  little  baby 
that  can't  speak  her  mind  ought  not  to  be  tied  to 
something  she  must  drag  all  her  life  and  hate  for  ever 
and  ever." 

"  Eat  your  breakfast,  and  try  to  be  a  good,  quiet 
child,  then  your  name  will  not  trouble  you  so  much." 

"  I  never  shall  like  it,  any  more  than  you  do,  and 
you  know,  grandma,  when  you  call  me  your  mouth 
twists  like  you  had  toothache." 

"  I  was  not  consulted  about  your  name.  It  be 
longed  to  your  New  England  Grandmother  Kent, 
and  as  it  appears  you  belong  only  to  your  father,  you 
were  called  after  his  mother.  I  heard  him  tell  you  it 
was  the  name  of  a  queen — one  of  David's  wives." 

'  Yes,  but  I  found  out  she  was  not  the  head  queen 
— just  a  sort  of  step-wife  queen.  Now  if  I  could  only 
be  the  pet  queen,  Sheba,  I  should  not  fret  at  all" 


10  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

"  The  Queen  of  Sheba  was  not  David's  wife." 

"  You  are  all  wrong  about  your  Bible,  grandma, 
because  you  are  only  a  Methodist.  David's  Sheba 
was  nicknamed  Bath  Sheba,  for  the  reason  that  he 
saw  her  going  to  her  bath-house,  and  she  looked  so 
pretty.  I  saw  her  picture  in  father's  Tiscopal  Bible." 

"  There,  there !     Be  quiet.     Drink  your  milk." 

Mrs.  Maurice  leaned  back  in  her  chair  and  sighed 
as  she  looked  down  at  the  fragile  child  beside  her. 
The  tall,  silver  coffee  urn  showed  in  repousse  on  one 
side  the  flight  of  Europa,  on  the  other  Dirce  dragged 
to  death.  Eglah  could  never  understand  how  the 
strands  of  the  victim's  hair  supported  the  weight  of 
her  form,  and  wondered  why  they  did  not  give  way 
and  set  the  prisoner  free.  To-day  she  eyed  it 
askance,  then  surveyed  her  own  fair  image  reflected 
in  the  polished,  smooth  surface  below  the  band  of 
figures. 

"  Grandma,  don't  you  think  horses  are  much  nicer 
for  ladies  to  ride  than  oxen?  " 

"  Yes,  my  dear." 

"Then  why  did  you  buy  ox  riders?"  one  small 
finger  pointed  to  the  heirloom  fetich. 

"  I  did  not  buy  the  urn.  It  has  belonged  to  your 
Grandfather  Maurice's  family  for  one  hundred  and 
fifty  years,  and  was  brought  from  Old  England. 
Eliza,  take  her  away.  If  she  cannot  be  silent,  she 
must  go  back  and  have  her  meals  with  you.  It  seems 
impossible  to  teach  her  that  in  the  presence  of  grown 
people  children  are  expected  to  listen." 

Mrs.  Mitchell  came  forward  from  a  side  table,  lifted 
the  little  girl  from  her  chair,  and  untied  the  ruffled 
bib  that  protected  her  white  dimity  dress. 

"  Now  tell  grandmother  you  are  sorry  you  an- 


A    SPECKLED   BIRD  11 

noyed  her,  and  if  she  will  let  you  sit  at  her  table  you 
will  be  as  quiet  as  she  wishes." 

"  Ma-Lila,  don't  make  me  tell  stories ;  she  doesn't 
believe  them,  and  I  am  so  tired  saying  things  I  don't 
mean.  I  want  to  go  back  to  the  side  table,  where 
you  are  not  always  scolding  me.  Grandma,  it  will 
be  peacefuller  if  I  stay  with  Ma-Lila " 

"  Hush !     Come  here." 

Mrs.  Maurice  lifted  the  little  one's  dimpled  chin 
and  studied  the  fair  face  that  had  bloomed  seven  years 
in  her  lonely  home:  a  winsome  face  cut  like  a  gem, 
velvety-brown  eyes,  long-lashed,  and  the  pure,  pale 
oval  set  in  a  shining  bronze  frame  of  curling  hair, 
all  chestnut  in  shade,  braided  with  gold  when  sun 
shine  hid  among  the  ripples. 

"  Kent !  Kent — even  her  ears  small  as  any  other 
rogue's.  She  is  her  father's  child." 

"  Is  that  a  sin,  grandma?  " 

Mrs.  Maurice  swiftly  laid  her  hand  over  the  up 
lifted,  upbraiding  eyes,  to  veil  something  in  their 
depths  that  often  disquieted  her,  and  sought  refuge 
in  her  habitual  command : 

"  Take  her  away,  Eliza." 

Ringing  the  small  bell  close  to  the  breakfast  tray, 
the  mistress  took  a  spray  of  starry  jasmine  from  the 
vase  in  the  centre  of  the  table,  and  as  she  turned 
away  said  to  the  grey-haired  butler: 

"  Aaron,  you  will  put  a  plate  and  chair  for  Miss  Eg- 
lah  at  the  side  table  until  further  orders.  Tell  Oliver 
I  shall  not  want  the  carriage  until  four  o'clock." 

Unusually  tall  and  very  handsome  was  this  stately 
widow  of  a  Confederate  general  who  had  been  slain 
during  one  of  the  fierce  conflicts  around  beleaguered 
Richmond.  No  white  hairs  marred  the  glossy  black- 


12  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

ness  of  the  thick  coil  half  hidden  under  a  snowy  crepe 
cap,  and  the  brilliant  blue  eyes  were  tmdimmed  by 
tearful  years  of  widowhood — a  Widowhood  involving 
for  her  the  full,  sad  significance"  of  the  sacred  and  mel 
ancholy  term,  an  inability  to  forget,  a  despair  of  any 
earthly  consolation,  and  a  jealous  reticence  that  de 
nied  all  discussion  of  her  sorrow,  as  she  would  have 
defended  her  dead  from  an  alien's  rude  touch.  To 
her,  time  had  brought  neither  oblivion  nor  allevia 
tion,  only  a  sharpened  sense  of  irreparable  bereave 
ment  ;  and  as  one  standing  in  an  unending;  and  hope 
less  eclipse,  she  accepted  the  gloom  with  a  stern  and 
silent  rejection  of  all  other  lights  when  the  surt  of  her 
life  went  down. 

Anniversaries  are  electric  batteries  that  thrill  the 
domain  of  emotions,  and  one  day  out  of  every  three 
hundred  and  sixty-five  the  strings  of  memory  are 
keyed  to  their  utmost  tension"*  vibrating  with  an  in 
tolerable  intensity  that  reddens  the  lips  of  old  wounds 
and  quickens  dull  aches  to  stinging  torture. 

This  memorial  morning  Mrs.  Maurice  crossed  the 
wide,  vaulted  hall,  and  passing  through  the  long,  pil 
lared  drawing-room,  opened  a  locked  door  and  shut 
herself  in  a  darkened  chamber  to  keep  tryst  with  the 
sacred  souvenirs  that  represented  all  she  held  dear. 
Raising  the  window,  she  turned  the  blinds  to  allow 
sunlight  entrance  into  this  silent  reliquary  filled 
with  mementoes  jealously  guarded  "  in  solemn  salva- 
tory  " :  a  heavy,  square  bedstead  with  twisted  col 
umns  that  upheld  a  red-lined  tester  whence  embroid 
ered  draperies  fell;  a  gilded  swinging  wicker  crib, 
with  baby  blankets,  rose  bordered;  a  velvet  easy 
chair,  where  a  gentleman's  quilted  silk  dressing-gown 
hung  over  the  carved  back,  and  his  slippers  lay  be- 


A    SPECKLED    BIRD  13 

neath ;  a  table  heaped  with  a  child's  toys,  books,  and 
daguerreotypes  of  various  sizes.  On  a  leathern 
couch  lay  a  folded  Confederate  uniform,  and  a  man's 
straw  hat,  cane,  spurs,  and  riding  whip  had  been 
placed  beside  the  faded  grey  coat.  Over  the  old- 
fashioned,  high  marble  mantel  hung  a  portrait  of 
General  Egbert  Maurice,  clad  in  uniform,  wearing 
three  stars  and  a  wreath  on  his  collar,  and  holding 
his  plumed  hat  in  his  right  hand.  At  one  corner  of 
the  mantel  a  furled  Confederate  flag  leaned  until  it 
touched  the  frame  of  the  picture,  and  from  the  marble 
shelf,  where  lay  the  general's  sash  and  sword,  hung 
the  stained  and  torn  guidon  of  his  favorite  regiment. 
On  the  wall  opposite  the  fireplace  the  portrait  of  a 
lovely  girl  with  an  apron  full  of  roses  seemed  to  fill 
the  room  with  radiance  and  color. 

With  a  slow,  caressing  movement,  Mrs.  Maurice's 
slim  white  hand  passed  over  the  front  of  the  smoking- 
gown,  and  fastened  in  a  button  hole  the  spray  of 
fragrant,  satin-starred  jasmine ;  then,  lifting  the  faded 
grey  coat,  she  held  it  to  her  heart  in  a  tight,  straining 
clasp,  as  she  seated  herself  on  the  couch,  and  her 
fingers  lingered  on  tarnished  gilt  buttons  and  braid. 
Inside  the  uniform  was  pinned  a  parcel  wrapped  in 
tissue  paper,  from  which  she  shook  out  a  mass  of 
yellowed  lace,  and  as  the  filmy  folds  of  an  infant's 
christening  robe  swept  across  her  lap,  a  subtle  per 
fume  of  withered  flowrers  like  the  breath  of  a  rose  jar 
stole  over  the  room. 

With  dry  eyes  she  looked  long  at  one  portrait,  then 
at  the  other:  the  husband  of  her  youth  and  the  only 
child  that  had  come  as  crowning  blessing  to  a  happy 
married  life  where  no  dissensions  muttered,  no  dis 
cordant  clash  jarred  the  perfect  harmony.  As  the 


14  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

dead  years  babbled,  she  listened  now  to  echoes  of 
manly  tones,  and  now  to  a  baby's  prattling  lisp,  still 
dividing  as  of  yore  her  heart's  homage.  When  war 
robbed  her  of  the  husband  who  had  never  ceased  to 
be  tender  lover,  her  only  hold  on  life  centred  in  their 
beautiful  daughter  Marcia,  and  the  struggle  to  guard 
her  and  defend  from  confiscation  and  ruin  the  fine 
landed  estate  and  large  fortune  left  by  General  Mau 
rice  had  served,  in  some  degree,  to  lessen  the  tendency 
to  morbid  brooding. 

To  the  truly  typical  Southern  woman  who  survived 
the  loss  of  family  idols  and  of  her  country's  freedom, 
for  which  she  had  surrendered  them,  "  reconstruc 
tion,"  political  and  social,  was  no  more  possible  than 
the  physical  resurrection  and  return  of  slain  thou 
sands  lying  in  Confederate  graves  all  over  the  tram 
pled  and  ruined  South. 

No  mourning  Southern  matron  indulged  more  in 
tensely  an  inexorable,  passionate  hatred  of  Northern 
invaders  than  did  Mrs.  Maurice,  who  refused  to  ac 
cept  the  inevitable,  and  shut  her  doors  against  agents 
of  "  union  and  reconstruction  "  as  promptly  as  she 
would  have  barred  out  leprosy  or  smallpox. 

>  Proud  of  the  social  prestige  with  which  her  Brah 
min  birth  and  stainless  family  record  had  dowered 
her,  she  wielded  her  influence  in  uncompromising 
hostility  to  all  who  advocated  a  tacit  acceptance  of 
the  new  conditions  called  "  peace."  The  loss  of  ne 
groes  that  abandoned  several  plantations  would  have 
materially  impaired  the  Maurice  fortune,  had  not  the 
prevision  of  the  general's  commission  merchant  in  a 
distant  seaport  induced  the  precautionary  course  of 
sending  a  portion  of  his  crop  of  cotton  to  Liverpool 
early  in  the  first  year  of  the  war,  thus  securing  a  large 


A    SPECKLED    BIRD  15 

amount  of  treasure  under  the  British  flag,  where  (as 
the  cotton  factor  wrote  Mrs.  Maurice  a  few  years 
later)  "  '  Union  '  thieves  could  not  steal,  nor  '  recon 
struction  '  moths  and  rust  feed  upon  it."  Out  of  the 
wreckage  that  succeeded  the  final  catastrophe  at  Ap- 
pomattox  the  family  fortune  of  General  Maurice 
emerged  triumphant  in  proportions,  and  the  minority 
of  Marcia  was  a  bulwark  that  defied  successfully  the 
numerous  assaults  of  "  loyal  confiscators." 

Sooner  or  later  the  diabolus  ex  machina  confronts 
us  all,  and  pierces  at  the  one  spot  least  guarded  be 
cause  deemed  invulnerable.  Mrs.  Maurice's  mater 
nal  pride  was  built  on  the  shifting  sands  of  girlish 
impulse  and  flattered  vanity,  and  the  crash  showed 
her  that  somewhere  at  the  cross  roads  she  had  failed 
to  offer  a  black  lamb  in  propitiating  evil  divinities — 
had  left  no  morsel  of  meat  for  the  sleuth-hounds  of 
baleful  destiny  that  suddenly  bayed  destruction  to 
the  last  earthly  hope  life  held  for  her.  Reared  in  the 
semi-cloistral  seclusion  of  a  Southern  girl's  education 
in  ante-bellum  days,  trained  at  home  by  governesses, 
and  barred  from  society  until  she  should  have  made 
the  European  tour  for  which  her  mother  had  fixed 
an  early  date,  predestined  Marcia  went  to  her  doom 
when  at  the  house  of  a  friend  she  met  accidentally  the 
recently  appointed  Federal  judge,  Allison  Kent — 
handsome,  courtly,  debonair,  and  wily. 

Clandestine  courtships  rarely  lag;  hence  this  lover 
of  forty  years,  dreading  discovery  and  the  prompt 
removal  of  an  infatuated  girl  only  seventeen  on  her 
last  birthday,  kept  the  mother  in  complete  ignorance 
of  impending  calamity  until  the  night  before  her 
departure  for  Europe,  when  Marcia  fled  with  him  to 


16  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

an  adjoining  State,  where  a  justice  of  the  peace  made 
them  man  and  wife. 

In  accordance  with  life-long  custom,  Mrs.  Maurice 
went  to  her  child's  bedroom  to  kiss  her  good  night, 
and  on  the  pillow  found  a  farewell  note,  praying  for 
forgiveness,  and  promising  to  meet  her  at  a  town  on 
the  line  of  her  journey.  How  the  mother  bore  this 
shock  only  God  knew;  no  eye  but  His  watched  dur 
ing  that  long  night,  when  her  soul  went  down  into  a 
Gehenna  of  torture — when,  alone  in  her  crucifixion, 
she  accepted  defeat,  and  girded  herself  for  grim  en 
durance.  As  day  dawned  she  unlocked  her  door, 
and  summoning  her  servants,  said: 

"  Miss  Marcia  has  left  me  to  marry  a  man  who  can 
not  enter  my  house.  Take  this  note  to  Mr.  Whit- 
field's  residence  at  once;  not  to  his  office,  to  his  house. 
Minerva,  you  will  finish  packing  Miss  Marcia's  trunk, 
which  must  be  sent  to  her.  I  shall  make  no  change 
in  my  plans,  except  to  take  the  noon  train  instead  of 
the  one  at  midnight.  Ask  me  no  questions.  Send 
Mitchell  and  Eliza  to  me." 

When  her  attorney,  Mr.  Whitfield,  appalled  by  the 
stony  white  face  that  showed  no  hint  of  tears,  no 
more  trace  of  grief  than  the  marble  figure  that  sup 
ported  the  mantel  at  her  side,  essayed  a  few  words 
of  sympathy,  she  put  out  her  hands  with  an  imperious 
gesture. 

"  There  is  no  comfort  possible,  and  I  need  your 
help  only  in  writing  a  new  will.  I  start  to  New  York 
at  noon,  so  you  have  little  time." 

A  few  hours  later,  having  seen  only  her  pastor  and 
her  lawyer,  she  left  her  rifled  home  by  a  route  that 
enabled  her  to  avoid  the  town  designated  as  a  place 
of  meeting.  Across  the  girl's  farewell  letter,  which 


A    SPECKLED   BIRD  17 

was  returned  to  "  Marcia  Maurice/'  she  had  written : 
"  My  only  hope  is  that  God  will  take  me  out  of  this 
world  before  I  see  again  the  face  of  the  child  who 
has  disgraced  the  memory  of  her  father  and  the  name 
of  her  mother." 

Eighteen  months  had  been  spent  in  Europe, 
whence  she  was  most  reluctantly  recalled  by  the  death 
of  Robert  Mitchell,  the  overseer  and  business  man 
ager  of  one  of  her  plantations,  who  was  killed  by  the 
explosion  of  a  mill  engine.  His  young  widow,  Eliza, 
had  been  sheltered  and  guarded  in  Mrs.  Maurice's 
home  when  orphaned  by  the  death  of  her  father,  a 
Methodist  chaplain  attached  to  General  Maurice's 
command,  and  the  intimacy  of  years  was  marked  by 
unfailing  kindness  and  confidence  on  the  part  of  the 
benefactress,  by  profound  affection  and  ardent  grati 
tude  on  that  of  the  destitute  girl.  The  peculiarly 
harrowing  circumstances  attending  her  husband's 
loss  had  so  severely  shocked  Eliza  that  Mrs.  Maurice 
promptly  removed  her  from  the  "  overseer's  cot 
tage  "  to  her  own  house,  where  she  was  nursed  ten 
derly  and  skilfully  in  the  room  that  before  her  mar 
riage  she  had  so  long  called^her  home.  Loving  Mar 
cia  very  warmly,  she  had  attempted  to  intercede  with 
the  indignant  mother,  and  one  of  her  letters  had  en 
closed  an  appeal  from  the  erring  daughter.  It  was 
returned  unopened,  and  accompanied  by  a  very  posi 
tive  assurance  that  any  future  repetition  would  not 
be  forgiven.  Old  friends  gathered  to  greet  the  re 
turned  traveller,  yet  all  intuitively  avoided  allusion 
to  the  domestic  cancer  that,  despite  her  proud,  silent 
composure,  was  eating  the  heart  barred  against  sym 
pathy.  She  learned  from  the  newspapers  that  under 
the  new  Federal  regime  Judge  Kent  was  temporarily 


18  A   SPECKLED  BIRD 

Senator,  and  that  after  a  season  in  Washington  he  and 
Marcia  were  living  at  a  hotel  in  her  own  neighboring 
city ;  but  as  the  latter  had  followed  her  husband  into 
the  Episcopal  Church,  no  meeting  occurred  between 
parent  and  child.  So  complete  was  the  estrange 
ment,  and  so  unapproachable  the  stern,  silent  attitude 
of  the  mother,  that  when  Dr.  Eggleston,  the  family 
physician,  and  Bishop  Vivian,  the  favorite  cousin, 
called  early  one  morning  on  an  urgent  errand,  both 
realized  that  they  championed  a  forlorn  and  desperate 
cause  in  battling  with  this  old  lioness  robbed  of  her 
young. 

Instinctively  she  divined  their  mission  as  her  eyes 
fell  upon  a  letter  lying  on  the  bishop's  knee,  and  her 
lips  narrowed  and  tightened.  Standing  on  the  hearth 
with  her  arms  folded,  she  listened  quietly  to  her 
cousin's  impassioned  pleading  for  forgiveness  and  to 
the  doctor's  distressing  presentation  of  Marcia's 
alarming  condition,  which  he  felt  constrained  to  pro 
nounce  hopeless. 

"  Madam,  if  you  deny  her  dying  prayer,  remorse 
will  drive  you  to  despair." 

"  She  has  been  dead  to  me  since  the  hour  she  de 
liberately  deceived  and  forsook  me.  Kent's  wife 
ceased  to  be  my  child  when  she  insulted,  disgraced, 
her  father's  name." 

"  Oh,  Patricia,  how  can  you  hope  or  claim  God's 
mercy  for  yourself  if  you  refuse  pardon  to  your  re 
pentant  and  unhappy  daughter?  " 

A  spark  leaped  into  the  cold  clear  eyes. 

"  For  mercy  I  think  I  shall  never  need  to  plead, 
and  when  my  God  grants  me  justice  I  will  try  to  be 
satisfied." 

"  Will  you  not  at  least  read  the  few  lines  the  poor 


A    SPECKLED    BIRD  19 

child  wrote  while  we  held  her  hand  and  guided  the 
pen?  Oh,  cousin,  if  you  could  see  her  now!  "  The 
bishop  held  out  the  letter. 

"  Because  you  are  the  bearer  I  cannot  refuse  you 
that  courtesy." 

She  walked  to  the  window  and,  holding  the  cur 
tain  aside,  read  the  brief  petition : 

"  My  Own  Mother : 

"  Let  me  come  home  to  die.  It  will  not  be  so 
hard  if  I  can  look  into  your  face  once  more,  and  know 
that  your  dear  hand  will  close  my  eyes  as  I  go  down 
into  my  grave.  I  shall  see  father  soon,  and  if  he 
could  come  now  to  my  help,  you  know  he  would  take 
me  in  his  arms  and  lay  me  in  my  mother's  lap.  Be 
merciful  to  your  poor,  dying 

"  MARCIA." 

Leaning  eagerly  forward,  the  two  grey-haired  men 
watched  and  listened  for  some  relenting  token;  but 
after  a  few  moments  she  turned  toward  a  desk,  and 
with  no  change  in  the  frozen  calm  of  her  handsome 
face,  she  merely  traced  a  word  at  the  bottom  of  the 
page,  handed  it  to  the  bishop,  and  left  the  room. 
"  Come." 

That  night  a  cold  waxen  image  of  a  boy  whose 
soul  refused  to  enter  its  clay  tabernacle  was  laid  for 
a  moment  in  Eliza  Mitchell's  arms,  to  be  kissed  as 
only  young  mothers  can  kiss  their  dead  first-born. 
The  following  day  the  hospital  ambulance  brought 
back  on  a  stretcher  the  wan  form  of  the  erring  daugh 
ter,  who  fainted  from  exhaustion  as  the  bearers  car 
ried  her  into  the  home  of  her  fathers.  Three  days 
later  she  died  in  her  mother's  arms,  whispering  with 


20  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

icy  lips :  "  If  my  baby  lives,  keep  her  for  my  sake — 
for  my  sake." 

So  little  Eglah  Kent  was  given,  when  three  hours 
old,  to  the  care  of  the  young  foster-mother  Eliza,  and 
slept  upon  the  heart  that  mourned  for  the  lost  baby 
boy.  Since  then  seven  years  had  passed,  and  to-day, 
as  Mrs.  Maurice  caressed  Marcia's  lace  christening 
robe,  she  put  aside  all  that  pertained  to  the  girl's  dis 
obedience  and  elopement,  and  memory  dwelt  only 
upon  the  sunny  time  when  her  husband  and  daughter 
made  home  a  heaven.  Into  the  quiet  room  crept  the 
whine  of  a  dog  scratching  at  the  door.  As  she  opened 
it,  a  feeble  brown  creature  crossed  the  floor,  crouched 
before  the  hearth,  and,  raising  soft,  tender  eyes  to  the 
portrait  of  the  general,  barked  once  and  beat  the 
carpet  with  his  tail,  as  if  in  salute;  her  husband's 
favorite  pointer  Hector,  failing  fast,  but  loyal  and 
true  as  the  heart  of  his  widow. 


CHAPTER    II 

Sharing  in  some  degree  that  infallible  instinct 
whereby  lower  animals  interpret  the  character  of 
their  owners,  young  children  are  often  as  wise  and 
wary  as  dogs  and  cats,  and  before  Eglah  could  walk 
without  clinging  to  Eliza's  finger,  she  knew  intui 
tively  that  her  silent,  watchful  grandmother  eyed  her 
suspiciously,  and  that  warm  caresses  could  be  ex 
pected  only  from  her  father  and  her  young  foster- 
mother.  Profound  and  regretful  compassion  rather 
than  tenderness  filled  Mrs.  Maurice's  heart,  and  she 
faithfully  ministered  to  the  infant's  needs,  as  she 
would  have  pityingly  warmed  and  fed  some  bleating 
lamb  bereft  of  its  dam  by  March  snows.  Since 
the  little  girl  showed,  except  in  form,  no  faintest 
trace  of  Maurice  blood,  her  grandmother  regarded 
her  most  sorrowfully — not  as  Marcia's  baby,  but  as 
the  living  monument  of  a  cruel  and  unpardonable 
injury  inflicted  by  Judge  Kent.  Even  in  the  cradle 
Eglah  defied  an  authority  supreme  in  the  household. 

'  You  must  not  say  Lila,  but  Mama-Eliza." 

"  I  won't !  It  hurths  my  tongue  to  say  Elitha.  I 
will  say  Ma-Lila." 

The  child's  inherent  antagonism  made  her  a  vexing 
embodiment  of  protest,  an  obstinate  interrogation 
point  punctuating  the  commands  of  this  old-fashioned 
lady  whose  domestic  canons  belonged  to  an  era  when 
boys  and  girls  were  not  considered  "  servile  "  because 
trained  to  answer  their  elders  "  No,  sir,"  or  "  Yes, 


22  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

ma'am,"  and  when  after  a  meal  in  the  sunset  glow 
young  human  broods  followed  feathered  folk  to  an 
early  rest  before  stars  spangled  the  sky.  If  among 
General  Maurice's  choice  collection  of  thoroughbred 
game  fowls,  with  yellow  legs  and  bronze  breasts,  had 
appeared  an  uncouth  mongrel  pullet,  dust-colored 
and  blue  of  skin,  his  exacting  widow  would  not  have 
rejected  it  more  summarily  than  did  her  proud  soul 
repudiate  the  Kent  scion  whom  she  housed  luxuri 
ously  because  of  Marcia's  last  prayer,  but  felt  no  more 
desire  to  caress  than  to  fondle  the  bullet  that  slew  her 
husband. 

Judge  Kent's  official  duties  called  him  often  from 
the  city,  and  during  his  visits  to  his  child  Mrs.  Mau 
rice,  if  compelled  to  see  him,  maintained  the  reticent, 
frigid  courtesy  with  which  she  had  received  him  when 
he  first  crossed  her  threshold  bearing  his  uncon 
scious  wife.  He  had  never  touched  the  slender  white 
fingers  that  pointed  to  the  staircase  that  day,  and 
while  she  allowed  herself  no  verbal  expression  of 
animosity,  he  was  humiliated  by  the  consciousness  of 
her  intense  detestation.  As  Southern  hostess  in  a 
typical  Southern  home,  she  fully  realized  noblesse 
oblige,  and  her  punctilious  observance  of  the  eti 
quette  of  hospitality  accentuated  the  position  she  as 
signed  him — that  of  stranger  within  her  gates.  He 
had  hoped  the  baby  might  bridge  the  chasm,  but 
when  he  ventured  to  dwell  upon  his  unwillingness  to 
deprive  Mrs.  Maurice  of  this  "  sweet  source  of  sol 
ace,"  she  promptly  dispelled  his  illusion. 

"  Make  no  mistake,  Judge  Kent.  You  leave  the 
poor  child  here,  and  I  retain  her  simply  because  her 
mother  so  requested." 

Desiring  to  minimize  sources  of  future  contention, 


A    SPECKLED    BIRD  23 

she  had  directed  Mr.  Whitfield  to  acquaint  him  with 
her  will,  whereby  the  entire  estate  would  pass  at  her 
death  into  the  hands  of  certain  trustees,  who,  after 
providing  a  liberal  annuity  for  Eglah  and  Eliza, 
should  control  absolutely  all  interests  until  Eglah  was 
twenty-one  years  old,  when  a  legacy  of  five  thousand 
dollars  would  be  paid  to  Eliza.  Should  the  little  girl 
be  removed  from  the  care  of  her  foster-mother,  the 
annuity  of  the  former  ceased,  and  half  of  the  value  of 
the  estate  should  be  deducted  from  her  inheritance; 
and  if  Eglah  died  before  marriage,  the  homestead  was 
bequeathed  to  childless  Confederate  widows  of  that 
State,  as  an  Egbert  Maurice  memorial.  Since  Gen 
eral  Maurice's  last  testament  had  left  his  fortune  un 
conditionally  to  his  wife,  there  was  no  appeal  from  her 
decision,  and  Judge  Kent  bore  the  keen  disappoint 
ment  with  such  semblance  of  acquiescence  as  he  could 
summon,  striving  to  veil  his  hatred  of  the  woman 
whose  contempt  lay  beneath  her  studied  courtesy  like 
an  iron  wall  under  a  sheet  of  ice.  An  adroit  and  tire 
less  schemer,  he  usually  steered  safely  in  the  troubled 
political  sea,  and  only  once,  in  an  unguarded  moment, 
dared  the  current  of  Mrs.  Maurice's  convictions. 

"  If  the  people  of  the  South  could  only  reason  from 
the  analogy  of  history " 

He  was  silenced  by  the  hand  thrown  up,  palm  out 
ward. 

"  We  have  only  the  privilege  of  suffering  and  re 
membering.  The  grim  analogy  of  Sicily  under  Ver- 
res  suggests  a  rather  painful  parallel.  For  us  there 
remains  solely  the  grace  of  silence;  and  it  were  well 
if  you,  sir,  could  set  me  an  example,  when  numbered 
among  guests  under  my  roof/' 

The  voice  was  low,  clear,  steady,  but  the  narrow 


24  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

lip  arched,  and  the  light  in  her  blue  eyes  reminded 
him  of  the  violet  flame  one  sees  flash  up  over  a  bed  of 
hot  anthracite. 

Eglah  was  five  years  old  when  her  father  was  called 
to  Washington,  and  thence  sent  to  Europe  on  a  gov 
ernment  mission,  which  he  so  successfully  accom 
plished  that  on  his  return  the  governor  of  his  native 
State  appointed  him  senator  to  fill  an  unexpired  term. 
Having  proved  a  useful  servant  of  the  Administra 
tion,  official  influence  secured  his  election  and  return 
to  the  United  States'  Senate  two  years  later,  and  Mrs. 
Maurice  welcomed  any  change  that  removed  him 
from  her  neighborhood.  His  rare  visits  were  festi 
vals  to  his  little  daughter,  and  she  revelled  in  the 
wealth  of  caresses,  the  endearing  words,  the  prodigal 
ity  of  gifts  that  always  characterized  his  brief  so 
journs.  Thus  were  laid  the  foundations  of  an  intense 
and  absorbing  devotion  to  her  father  that  gradually 
became  the  dominant  factor  in  her  life. 

"  Nutwood  " — the  three-storied  red  brick  house 
crowning  an  eminence  shaded  by  walnut  and  chest 
nut  trees — had  been  built  in  1825  by  General  Mau 
rice's  father,  and  its  pillared  piazza  running  along 

three  sides  overlooked  the  city  of  Y ,  two  miles, 

distant,  where  spires  and  factory  chimneys  lifted  their,  j 
lines  against  mellow  western  skies.  On  the  first  and; 
second  floors  of  the  old  mansion  wide  halls  crossed1 
at  right  angles,  admitting  breezes  from  every  point 
of  the  compass,  and  so  unusually  thick  were  the  walls 
that  the  nearly  square  windows  framed  in  cedar  fur 
nished  comfortable  lounging  seats.  For  many  years 
this  place  had  been  famous  throughout  the  State 
for  its  race-horses,  game  chickens,  pointers,  fox 
hounds,  and  fine  library,  and  the  hospitality  dispensed 


A    SPECKLED   BIRD  25 

was  peculiar  to  an  era  characterized  by  conditions 
that  the  Civil  War  annihilated.  No  invading  army 

had  reached  the  city  of  Y ,  but  raiding  cavalry 

squads  once  completely  sacked  the  Maurice  plan 
tations  many  miles  distant  in  the  river  valley,  and 
burned  not  only  the  empty  gin  house,  but  the  com 
modious  family  residence  often  occupied  in  autumn. 
Prior  to  her  departure  for  Europe  Mrs.  Maurice  had 
rebuilt  gin  and  warehouses,  and  erected  a  pretty  four- 
room  cottage  comfortably  furnished,  which,  with  fifty 
acres  of  adjoining  land,  she  gave  as  dower  to  Eliza 
when  she  married  the  faithful  overseer  and  manager 
of  the  "  Bend  Plantations." 

One  sultry  spring  morning  in  Eglah's  ninth  year, 
she  sat  with  Eliza  in  the  "  out-door  schoolroom  " 
where  lessons  were  studied  in  warm  weather.  It 
was  a  cool  retreat — a  circular,  latticed  summer-house 
— overrun  by  yellow  woodbine,  honeysuckle,  and  a 
pink  multiflora  rose,  all  in  full  bloom,  busy  distilling 
perfume  their  satin  lips  offered  in  libation  to  the  lazily 
wandering  wind  that  caressed  them.  The  pointed 
roof  was  rain  proof,  the  floor  tiled,  and  between  the 
arched  openings  seats  were  fastened  to  the  lattice 
wall.  From  the  round  table  in  the  centre  lovely 
views  of  shrubbery,  lily-starred  lawn,  far-off  grain 
fields,  green  pasture  lands  where  cattle  browsed, 
seemed  set  in  frames  of  leafage  and  tendril  that  ran 
riot  around  the  archways.  A  walk  bordered  with 
lilacs  and  azaleas  led  to  the  door  of  the  conservatory, 
which  flanked  the  long  drawing-room ;  stretching  be 
yond,  one  could  see  the  wide  front  of  the  house, 
where  no  balustrade  broke  the  line  of  white  columns 
rising  to  the  crenellated  flat  roof.  Eglah  sat  with  a 
geography  lying  open  before  her  on  the  table,  and 


26  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

her  head  supported  by  arms  resting  on  the  map,  but 
once  she  turned  a  leaf,  and  the  wind  fluttered  a  let 
ter  many  weeks  old  from  her  father. 

"  Are  you  ready  to  answer  the  map  questions?  " 

"  No,  Ma-Lila.  Why  must  I  always  answer  other 
people's  questions,  when  nobody  answers  mine?  I 
will  say  my  lesson  when  you  tell  me  what '  scallawag  ' 
and  '  carpet-bagger  '  mean." 

"  They  are  ugly  slang  words,  and  if  I  were  you  I 
should  try  to  forget  I  ever  heard  them.  Little  girls 
have  nothing  to  do  with  politics,  and  you  have  not 
told  me  of  whom  the  Graham  children  were  speaking 
at  the  party." 

"  Never  mind  about  names.  I  looked  in  the  dic 
tionary,  but  could  not  find  '  scallawag/  I  know  it 
means  something  horrid  and  vulgar  and  hateful,  and  I 
never  will  go  to  another  party." 

Eliza's  reply  was  drowned  by  the  scream  of  "  King 
Herod  " — a  lordly  peacock  that  had  earned  the  title 
from  his  slaughter  of  young  turkeys  and  chickens  in 
the  poultry  yard.  Now  he  trailed  his  feathers  across 
the  walk,  came  up  to  the  summer-house,  and  uttered 
his  piercing  cry  in  quick  succession, 

"  Something  is  going  to  happen.  Uncle  Aaron 
says  it  is  a  bad  sign  when  Herod  squalls  at  a  door." 

"  Something  happened  a  while  ago,  when  a  man 
rode  up  the  avenue  and  tied  his  horse.  Now  he  is 
leaving  the  steps,  and  Herod  knows  he  is  a  stranger. 
You  must  not  listen  to  superstitious  foolishness  from 
negroes,"  said  Eliza,  with  a  fine  scorn  of  all  but  her 
own  peculiar  pet  superstition,  kept  closely  guarded  in 
her  heart. 

Eglah  shut  the  geography,  propped  her  chin  on 


A    SPECKLED    BIRD  27 

her  palms  as  her  elbows  rested  on  the  table,  and 
watched  the  beautiful  bird  preen  his  feathers. 

"  Ma-Lila,  how  old  must  I  be  before  you  will  be 
ready  to  tell  me  why  grandmother  hates  my  father 
so?" 

"  Dearie,  she  does  not  '  hate '  him,  and  you  ought 
to  try  not  to " 

"  Don't  tell  stories,  Ma-Lila,  because  I  want  al 
ways  to  believe  everything  you  say — and — there ! 
Listen  to  grandma's  bell.  Three  rings;  that  is  for 
you." 

Eliza  laid  in  her  work  basket  the  embroidered  cam 
bric  ruffle  she  was  hemming  and,  throwing  her  white 
apron  over  her  head,  went  swiftly  to  the  house. 

Mrs.  Maurice  sat  in  the  drawing-room,  with  two 
newspapers  unfolded  on  her  lap,  but  whether  their 
contents  annoyed  or  gratified  her,  the  cold,  quiet  face 
gave  no  indication. 

"  Is  Eglah  ready  to  come  and  recite  her  lessons?  " 

"  Not  yet,  madam." 

"  Put  away  her  books ;  she  will  be  excused  from 
lessons  to-day.  Judge  Kent  has  married  again  in 
Washington,  and  these  papers  furnish  detailed  ac 
counts  of  the  brilliant  wedding  reception.  He  has 
swallowed  the  gold  bait  of  a  widow  he  met  in  Europe. 
She  is  reputed  rich,  of  course — a  Mrs.  Nina  Herriott 
— and  the  bridal  pair  will  go  to  England  for  the  sum 
mer." 

"  Our  poor  baby !  This  news  will  break  her  heart," 
replied  the  foster-mother,  whose  eyes  had  rilled  with 
tears  at  thought  of  the  child's  suffering. 

"  Yes,  she  will  grieve  sorely,  but  better  now  than 
later  in  life.  I  have  been  pondering  the  best  way  to 
break  the  news  to  her." 


28  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

"  Let  me  tell  her.  I  think  I  understand  her  dispo 
sition  more  thoroughly  than  anyone  else." 

"  You  fancy  I  do  not  comprehend  my  own  grand 
daughter?" 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,  dear  Mrs.  Maurice.  I  mean 
only  that  I  have  watched  all  her  little  ways,  and  she 
feels  less  restraint  with  me  than  with  you;  but  of 
course  you  must  choose  your  own  way  in  this  mat 
ter." 

"  For  us,  this  marriage  is  fortunate,  and  I  rejoice 
at  every  circumstance  that  heightens  the  barrier  be 
tween  Judge  Kent  and  me.  He  will  never  dare  to 
disturb  the  child  while  I  live,  and  brides  are  not  im 
portunate  for  the  custody  of  step-children.  Eliza,  I 
never  felt  until  to-day  that  Eglah  is  really  Marcia's 
baby.  She  is  a  thousand  times  dearer  to  me  now 
than  ever  before." 

"  Dear  madam,  I  thank  God  for  anything  that  will 
make  you  open  your  heart  and  take  the  precious 
child  in.  In  many  ways  she  needs  tenderness  from 
you,  and  especially  since  the  children's  parties  she  has 
attended  recently,  where  rude  things  were  said  about 
her  father.  She  has  not  told  me  all,  but  you  know 
the  damaging  rumors  about  some  of  his  decisions 
while  Federal  Judge  in  our  State,  and  the  Graham 
children,  whose  interests  suffered  through  him,  speak 
very  bitterly  of  his  career.  Eglah  has  asked  me  many 
questions  lately,  which  I  always  evaded,  but  she 
broods  over  this  matter  and  is  resentful." 

"  Poor  little  thing !  Her  father  has  lived  on  sour 
grapes  so  long,  her  teeth  must  inevitably  be  on  edge. 
Henceforth  she  belongs  to  me." 

"  She  is  absolutely  devoted  to  him,  and  it  is  dis- 


A    SPECKLED    BIRD  29 

tressing  to  know  how  her  very  heartstrings  are  tied 
around  him.  It  amounts  to  idolatry." 

"  Yes,  I  realize  that,  and  it  will  be  a  sad  day  for 
her  when  the  glamour  fades  and  she  sees  the  ugly,  de 
formed  clay  feet  of  her  idol." 

"  It  would  break  her  heart." 

"  No.  We  both  know  sorrow  does  not  destroy, 
and  death  is  deaf  to  calls  from  crushed  hearts.  She 
will  simply  find  herself  chained  to  a  galling  sense  of 
shame.  These  papers  were  brought  this  morning  by 
a  young  man  who  impressed  me  as  a  thoroughbred 
gentleman — Mr.  Noel  Herriott,  son  of  M*s.  Kent's 
first  husband.  He  spoke  kindly  of  his  stepmother, 

and  explained  that,  as  he  was  passing  through  Y 

on  his  way  west,  Judge  Kent  had  given  him  a  card 
of  introduction  to  me,  and  requested  him  to  see  Eg- 
lah,  for  whom  he  brought  the  package  yonder  on  the 
window  sill.  I  knew  the  poor  child  would  be  dis 
tressed  at  the  news,  and  thought  it  best  she  should 
have  time  to  recover  from  the  shock  before  seeing 
him.  He  continues  his  journey  by  the  midnight 
train,  and  I  have  invited  him  to  return  and  take  tea 
here,  when  Eglah  can  be  introduced  to  him.  Eliza, 
perhaps  you  are  right ;  certainly  you  are  more  nearly 
her  mother  than  any  living  being,  and  you  will  ten 
derly  break  the  news  to  her.  Carry  the  papers  and 
the  parcel  and  make  her  understand.  After  a  while 
I  wish  to  come  out  and  join  you." 

In  shaking  and  furling  his  rainbow  train  King 
Herod  had  shed  a  long  feather.  Eglah  picked  it  up, 
and  finding  a  knife  in  the  work  basket  proceeded  to 
sharpen  the  end  into  a  pen,  with  which  she  purposed 
writing  to  her  father.  As  Eliza  entered  and  placed 
the  papers  on  the  table,  the  little  girl  looked  up. 


30  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

"  Oh,  Ma-Lila,  you  are  crying!  What  is  it?  Not 
bad  news  from  father?  " 

"  My  baby,  your  father  is  well  and  has  sent  you 
a  present.  Come  to  me,  darling;  I  want  to  talk  to 
you."  She  drew  her  to  her  lap  and  held  her  close. 

"  We  know,  of  course,  your  father  dearly  loves 
his  daughter,  but  he  is  often  very  lonely,  and  as  he 
cannot  have  you  with  him,  what  would  you  think 
if  you  heard  he  had  married  a  lady  who  would  be 
kind  and  good  to  him?  Don't  you " 

"  I  know  that  would  be  a  lie — a  wicked  lie !  Why 
do  you  say  such  horrible  things  and  hurt  me  so  ?  " 
She  threw  off  the  clasping  arm  and  sprang  to  the 
floor,  stamping  the  tiles  with  her  right  foot. 

"  My  precious  baby,  I  would  not  hurt  you  for  a 
million  of  dollars!  You  know  your  Lila  loves  you 
better  than  everything  else  in  the  world.  I  would 
rather  hold  my  hand  in  the  fire  than  tell  you  a  pain 
ful  thing  if  it  could  be  helped.  But  somebody  must 
speak  the  truth  to  you." 

She  knelt  down  by  the  indignant  child  and  kissed 
her  hot  cheek  twice. 

"  My  darling,  it  is  true — positively  true — that  your 
father  was  married  some  days  ago.  Now,  you  must 
not  struggle  to  get  away  from  me.  Listen,  and  let 
me  explain  it  all." 

"  Don't !  I  won't  listen.  I  can't — wait — wait — " 
She  went  to  the  seat  along  the  wall  and  threw  herself 
face  downward,  crossing  her  arms  over  her  head. 
She  lay  so  still  that  a  quarter  of  an  hour  later  Eliza 
sat  down  beside  her,  and  while  her  hand  softly  stroked 
the  brown  curls,  she  read  slowly  the  description  of 
church  wedding  and  subsequent  reception. 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  31 

"  My  darling,  you  love  your  father  so  well  you 
want  him  to  be  happy,  and — 

"  No,  not  with  another  wife,  and  away  from  me.  I 
would  rather  he  was  dead — for  then  nobody  else  could 
claim  him.  Two  wives !  It  is  like  having  two  Gods." 

Taking  the  papers,  she  read  the  marked  para 
graphs,  and  though  neither  sob  nor  tear  betrayed 
the  intensity  of  her  sorrow,  one  little  hand  caught  at 
her  throat,  where  a  stricture  seemed  to  stifle  her. 

"  You  must  try  to  bear  this  trouble  patiently." 

"  I  can't.  I  would  not  bear  it  at  all,  if  I  could 
help  myself.  Now  I  am  an  orphan !  An  orphan !  " 

"  Not  while  I  live  to  love  you.  Look  at  this  par 
cel,  your  father's  present." 

Eliza  unwrapped  the  paper  and  took  out  an  oblong 
gilded  box,  to  which  was  fastened  a  card :  "  For  our 
dear  little  daughter  Eglah,  with  love  of  her  father 
and  mother."  The  child  glanced  at  the  handwriting 
and  her  eyes  seemed  almost  to  take  fire.  She  snatched 
the  box  and  threw  it  to  the  floor. 

"  It  is  not  mine ;  I  have  no  father  and  no  mother. 
I  have  only  Ma-Lila  left !  " 

She  buried  her  face  in  Eliza's  lap,  and  hoping  a 
burst  of  tears  would  relieve  the  strain,  the  nurse  si 
lently  caressed  her,  waiting  for  the  storm  to  break; 
but  save  the  trembling  of  the  figure  no  sign  was 
given.  After  a  while,  Eliza  whispered, 

"  Grandmother  is  coming  down  the  walk." 

Eglah  started  up  as  if  electrified,  and  lifted  the  box 
from  the  floor,  holding  it  against  her  breast.  Lean 
ing  on  her  cane,  Mrs.  Maurice  came  to  the  table,  sat 
down,  and  opened  her  arms. 

"  My  dear  child,  come  here." 

Not  an  inch  stirred  Eglah,  and  Eliza  gently  forced 


32  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

her  forward  within  reach  of  the  extended  arms.  Mrs. 
Maurice  leaned  down  to  kiss  her,  but  she  turned  her 
head  away. 

"  My  poor  little  girl,  don't  you  know  I  love  you?  " 

"  Oh,  no,  grandma ;  you  never  did  love  me,  and 
you  never  will." 

"  But  I  do,  dear  child.     Kiss  me." 

"  I  don't  want  to  kiss  you  any  more  than  you  want 
to  kiss  me.  I  understand  exactly  how7  you  feel.  You 
are  sorry  for  me  because  you  think  father  has  treated 
me  badly  in  getting  married.  But,  grandmother, 
you  need  not  pity  me  now,  for  I  must  make  you 
understand  that  my  father  always  is  right.  No  mat 
ter  what  he  may  do,  he  has  good  reasons,  and  if  I 
am  satisfied  nobody  else  can  complain.  I  shall  al 
ways  know  father  is  right." 

The  dry,  white  face  was  lifted  proudly,  and  the 
challenging  eyes  met  her  grandmother's  steadily,  but 
the  childish  lips  trembled  and  the  hand  clutched  spas 
modically  at  her  throat. 

A  gush  of  genuine  tenderness  warmed  the  old 
lady's  heart  as  she  took  the  quivering  fingers,  spread 
them  on  her  own  palm,  and  touched  the  girl's  fore 
head  with  her  lips. 

"  '  Loyal  and  true  ' — that  is  the  Maurice  motto. 
'  Though  He  slay  me,  yet  will  I  trust  Him ! '  To 
day  we  will  have  no  lessons,  and  this  evening  Eliza 
shall  dress  you  especially  to  meet  the  gentleman,  Mr. 
Herriott,  whom  your  father  wishes  you  to  know. 
Eliza,  see  that  she  has  a  warm  bath,  and  put  some 
orange  flower  water  in  her  glass  of  lemonade." 

In  after  years  Noel  Herriott  often  recalled  that 
afternoon  spent  at  Nutwood.  The  inimitable  court 
esy  of  the  handsome  stately  hostess,  the  sweet  coun- 


A    SPECKLED    BIRD  33 

tenance  of  the  widowed  foster-mother — whose  anx 
ious,  tender  gaze  rarely  left  the  white-clad  child — 
the  grave  negro  butler,  wearing  linen  apron  that 
matched  his  grey  head,  and  the  spacious  old  cedar- 
wainscotted  dining-room  where,  on  bare,  polished 
mahogany  table,  the  light  of  wax  candles  was  re 
flected  in  silver  dishes  and  candelabra,  and  glittered 
from  heavy,  antique-shaped,  cut-glass  bowls,  while 
golden  honeycomb  and  ripe  strawberries  mixed  their 
fragrance  with  the  breath  of  crimson  carnations 
heaped  in  a  Sevres  china  centrepiece  that  once  graced 
banquets  at  Trianon.  Most  vivid  of  all  impressions, 
he  retained  the  imperishable  image  of  a  beautiful 
girl,  with  singularly  white  cheeks  and  lustrous,  shy 
eyes,  glowing  unnaturally  from  her  fierce  struggle 
for  composure — a  proud,  sensitive  face  whose  ex 
quisite  lines  suggested  rare  old  cameos  behind  cabinet 
glass. 

Though  the  guest  was  a  very  young  man,  his  quiet 
manner  and  perfect  ease  indicated  thorough  acquain 
tance  with  the  most  refined  society,  and  despite  her 
sectional  prejudice  Mrs.  Maurice  yielded  to  the  charm 
of  an  unusually  handsome  personality  and  a  conversa 
tion  marred  by  no  trace  of  egotism.  The  crocus  light 
of  afterglow  still  tinged  the  west,  where  the  sickle  of 
a  new  moon  swung,  when  the  visitor  rose  to  depart. 

"  Miss  Eglah,  when  I  come  back  from  New  Mexico 
and  Arizona,  shall  I  bring  you  a  Zuni  pickaninny  or  a 
Moqui  pony  ?  " 

She  shook  her  head. 

"  Since  your  father  has  stolen  my  stepmother,  do 

you  not  think  you  might  persuade  yourself  to  accept 

me  as  a  sort  of  half  cousin  or  hemi-demi-semi-step- 

brother,  or  any  kind  of  a  relative  you  may  choose? 

3 


84  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

I  am  quite  alone  in  the  world,  and  you  are  just  the 
sister  I  should  like  to  claim  as  my  bermanita.  May 
I?" 

"  Thank  you,  sir,  I  would  rather  not.  I  want  only 
my  father." 

He  bowed,  and  lifting  her  dainty  little  hand 
brushed  it  with  his  mustache. 

"  Mrs.  Maurice,  in  saying  good-bye,  I  must  thank 
you  cordially  for  the  privilege  of  spending  several 
hours  in  your  lovely  home,  which  illustrates  all  I  have 
read  of  charming  Southern  life,  and  realizes  com 
pletely  my  ideal  picture  of  what  your  sunny  land  must 
have  been  in  former  years." 

"  Good-bye,  Mr.  Herriott.  I  wish  you  a  pleasant 
journey.  Nutwood  is  a  mere  shadow  of  old  and 
happier  days.  Ichabod  is  printed  all  over  the  ruined 
South,  and  we  live  only  to  guard  our  graves." 


CHAPTER    III 

The  quiet,  systematic  routine  of  life  at  Nutwood 
was  by  no  means  cloistral  in  its  seclusion,  and  though 
the  term  "  house-party  "  had  not  yet  taken  root  south 
of  the  Potomac,  guests  from  various  parts  of  the  State 
frequently  spent  a  week  with  Mrs.  Maurice,  and  were 
entertained  at  dinners,  luncheons,  and  teas  with  the 
lavish  hospitality  traditional  in  the  family.  Accus 
tomed  early  to  meeting  strangers,  Eglah  was  neither 
bashful  nor  awkward,  but  she  understood  fully  that 
her  father  was  unpopular  in  the  social  world  around 
her,  and  she  deeply  resented  an  antipathy  which, 
though  never  discussed  in  her  presence,  she  felt  it 
impossible  to  forgive  or  remove.  The  explanatory 
assistance  of  Minerva,  daughter  of  the  cook,  had  en 
abled  her  to  comprehend  all  the  unpleasant  signifi 
cance  of  "  scallawag "  and  "  carpet-bagger,"  and 
with  the  fervor  of  indignant  loyalty  she  promptly 
espoused  whatever  cause  her  father  was  reputed  to 
represent.  Alert  and  en  garde,  she  expected  attacks, 
felt  eager  to  retaliate,  and  consequently  was  often 
stung  by  the  young  people  of  her  circle  with  whom 
she  was  no  favorite.  For  many  months  after  Judge 
Kent's  second  marriage,  Mrs.  Maurice  yielded  to  a 
new  and  yearning  tenderness  toward  her  grandchild, 
whom  she  heartily  pitied,  but  the  overtures  came  too 
late;  the  plastic  season  had  passed,  the  angles  had 
stiffened,  the  childish  heart  had  hardened  hopelessly, 


36  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

and  caresses  that  formerly  might  have  won  her  love 
were  received  in  cold,  irresponsive  passiveness. 

Once  she  had  gone  under  Eliza's  care  to  spend 
Christmas  in  Washington,  and  though  the  pretty, 
gay,  good-natured  stepmother  laid  siege  to  the  girl's 
heart  and  fondled  and  pampered  her,  Mrs.  Kent  knew 
from  the  defiant  gleam  in  her  watchful,  jealous  eyes 
that  the  daughter  would  never  tolerate  a  usurper  who 
sat  on  her  own  mother's  throne  and  divided  her 
father's  affections. 

During  the  following  year,  Mrs.  Maurice  was  pros 
trated  by  an  attack  of  pneumonia  that  resulted  in 
heart  weakness,  from  which  she  never  fully  rallied. 
The  reins  of  household  government  slipped  easily 
into  Eliza's  hands,  and  that  reticent,  faithful  young 
woman  proved  worthy  of  the  confidence  so  long  re 
posed  in  her  by  her  benefactress. 

The  last  link  in  the  chain  of  daily  duties  to  which 
the  invalid  clung  was  her  habit  of  listening  to  Eglah's 
recitations  from  text-books,  but  the  hour  came  when 
she  reluctantly  laid  down  the  self-imposed  task. 

"  My  dear,  in  future  say  your  lessons  to  Eliza.  I 
find  I  am  not  strong  enough  to  be  patient,  and  with 
out  perfect  patience  no  one  should  attempt  to  teach. 
Go  now  and  practise  your  piano  exercises ;  it  will  not 
disturb  me  in  the  least." 

She  took  into  her  own  cold,  beautifully  shaped 
hand  Eglah's  slender,  warm  fingers,  looked  at  them 
critically,  and  smiled  as  she  drew  them  tenderly  across 
her  cheek. 

"  Kiss  me,  little  one.  Try  always  to  obey  Eliza, 
for  she  will  never  fail  you  when  you  need  comfort, 
and  in  all  this  world  nobody  loves  you  as  she  does. 
Send  her  to  me." 


A    SPECKLED    BIRD  37 

When  the  nurse  came  in  and  seated  herself,  darn 
ing  gourd  in  hand,  Mrs.  Maurice  was  glancing  over 
a  blank  book  used  for  memoranda. 

"  Eliza,  here  are  some  instructions  you  must  follow 
faithfully  when  I  am  gone.  I  have  written  them  care 
fully,  so  that  you  cannot  misunderstand.  I  leave 
nothing  to  your  discretion,  not  because  your  judg 
ment  is  defective,  but  simply  for  the  reason  that  I 
desire  my  wishes  executed  exactly.  It  is  an  absolute 
condition  of  my  will  that  you  should  have  the  per 
sonal  care  of  Eglah  until  she  marries.  If  she  should 
be  sent  to  a  new-fangled  college  (one  of  her  father's 
Yankee  fads),  you  will  board  in  sight  of  her;  when 
she  travels,  you  go  with  her.  Nothing  but  her  death, 
or  marriage,  shall  separate  you,  and  with  this  provi 
sion  I  can  safely  leave  her.  Egbert  and  Marcia  will 
understand  I  have  done  what  was  possible  for  the 
poor  baby.  Proud  little  thing !  she  will  be  tortured 
indeed  if  ever  the  time  comes  when  she  feels  ashamed 
of  her  father — and  wily  though  he  is,  her  eyes  are 
keen.  She  is  all  Kent  in  appearance,  except  her 
hands  and  feet;  they  are  dainty,  beautiful,  patrician, 
genuinely  Maurice  like  my  Marcia's." 

She  laid  the  book  on  Eliza's  lap,  motioned  her 
.-away,  and,  turning  her  head  aside,  closed  her  eyes. 

With  the  ebbing  of  summer  tide  her  pulse  waned 
slowly  but  steadily,  like  a  star  going  down  to  the 
gates  of  the  west.  Leaning  heavily  on  her  husband's 
cane,  followed  by  the  aged  pointer,  the  tall,  wasted 
figure  went  to  and  fro  through  the  old  house,  as  one 
having  packed  and  waiting  for  departure  looks  to  see 
if  aught  has  been  forgotten ;  and  over  the  pallid  face 
with  its  cloud  of  black  hair  an  exultant  smile  some 
times  shone,  as  she  realized  how  soon  she  should  re- 


38  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

claim  her  treasures  in  the  beckoning  Beyond.  It  was 
an  August  night  when  the  pilot's  signal  came,  and 
swiftly  and  gladly  she  "  crossed  the  bar."  Eliza  was 
aroused  from  a  sound  sleep  by  Eglah,  who  shook  her. 

"  Ma-Lila,  I  am  so  frightened !  I  heard  grandma 
call  out  '  Egbert ! '  '  Marcia ! '  Something  had  al 
ready  waked  me  suddenly." 

"  Oh,  dearie,  you  were  only  dreaming." 

She  sprang  up  and  lighted  a  candle,  but  the  girl 
clung  to  her. 

"  No,  it  was  not  a  dream.  I  heard  it  clear  and 
loud  like  a  quick  cry.  I  was  so  scared  I  waited 
a  while,  and  then  I  went  to  her  room — but  she  is  not 
there!  I  could  see  the  bed  was  empty,  because 
Dinah  had  left  the  night  lamp  burning  in  the  pas 
sage.  What  can  it  mean  ?  " 

"  Grandmother  is  often  restless,  and  goes  out  on 
the  colonnade,  where  the  fresh  air  relieves  her  op 
pressed  breathing.  No  doubt  she  is  there  now. 
Baby,  do  not  tremble  so." 

Clutching  Eliza's  nightgown,  Eglah  followed  her 
to  the  sick  room,  which  was  unoccupied,  and  waking 
Dinah,  who  slept  on  a  cot  in  the  hall,  they  searched 
the  entire  length  of  the  piazza,  the  foster-mother 
shielding  the  light  with  her  hand.  Turning  to  re- 
enter  the  house,  they  were  startled  by  the  howl  of  a 
dog,  answered  instantly  by  a  scream  from  Herod, 
roosting  on  one  of  the  arched  chimney  tops.  Eglah 
was  so  terrified  she  threw  her  arms  around  Eliza, 
thereby  dashing  the  candle  from  her  trembling  hand. 

"  She  must  be  in  the  general's  room,  and  old  Hec 
tor  is  there  also." 

Swiftly  they  crossed  the  halls,  and  found  a  light 
shining  through  the  partly  open  door  of  the  memorial 


A    SPECKLED    BIRD  39 

chamber.  A  candle  burned  low  under  the  portrait 
over  the  mantel,  and  Hector,  with  his  head  thrown 
back  against  his  mistress's  knee,  howled  feebly.  She 
sat  in  her  husband's  easy  chair,  her  head  pillowed 
on  his  dressing  gown,  where  a  fresh  Cape  jasmine 
gleamed,  and  over  her  lap  flowed  the  yellowed  lace 
of  Marcia's  christening  robe,  half  hiding  the  baby 
shoes  of  white  kid.  She  had  laid  one  hand  on  the 
Confederate  uniform  folded  on  the  couch  beside  her 
chair,  and  about  the  long,  white  fingers  of  the  other 
were  wrapped  strands  of  vivid  red  seed-coral — the 
necklace  and  bracelets  of  her  only  child.  Stern  lines 
and  shadows  of  sorrow  had  faded  forever  from  the 
frozen  face,  where  eternal  peace  set  its  blessed  seal, 
and  in  the  wide  eyes  fixed  on  her  husband's  portrait 
was  the  rapt  expression  that  comes  only  with  the  lift 
ing  of  the  veil  as  the  soul  drifts  through  its  windows 
of  flesh.  The  icy  shiver  that  runs  across  the  world 
when  day  dawns  grew  into  a  windy  gust  from  the 
west,  extinguishing  the  fluttering  candle  flame  and 
blowing  the  lace  curtains  out  eastward  like  white  sails 
bearing  away  the  happy  spirit  to  crystal  seas.  At  the 
edge  of  the  sky,  where  the  morning  star  burned,  a 
thread  of  orange  glowed  in  the  soft  pearl  grey  of  the 
new  day,  and  only  the  crowing  of  the  game  cocks 
from  their  cedar  thicket  broke  the  silence  that  death 
consecrates. 


CHAPTER    IV 

Were  it  possible  to  probe  the  recesses  of  cerebra 
tion  by  some  psychological  process  as  searching  as 
the  Roentgen  ray,  many  strange  beliefs  would  be 
dragged  from  secret  chambers  sedulously  guarded, 
where  mental  fetiches  are  worshipped.  Those  who 
knew  Eliza  Mitchell  well  considered  her  a  very  pretty, 
dignified,  reticent  young  widow,  who  won  respect  by 
her  adherence  to  mourning  garments — never  laid 
aside  after  her  husband's  death;  but  her  rigid  obser 
vance  of  the  strictest  phase  of  Methodist  discipline 
presented  a  certain  austerity  of  character  that  ap 
peared  to  rebuke  quietly  even  the  members  of  her 
own  denomination  who  indulged  in  "  the  putting  on 
of  gold  and  costly  apparel,  and  taking  such  diver 
sions  "  as  aforetime  were  considered  appanages  of  the 
"  flesh  and  the  devil." 

Keenly  observant  and  silently  contemplative,  she 
had  grown  shrewd  as  a  judge  of  character,  and  laid 
the  tribute  of  her  confidence  at  the  feet  of  few;  yet 
this  little  woman,  eminently  practical  and  rigidly 
orthodox  in  the  faith  of  her  father,  had  surrendered 
to  one  belief  that  dominated  heart,  soul,  and  mind — 
that  ruled  her  absolutely,  and  that  she  jealously 
guarded  from  all  but  her  God.  Her  most  intense  and 
precious  conviction  was  that  the  soul  created  and  in 
tended  for  her  baby  boy,  who  never  breathed,  had 
been  assigned  to  the  body  of  Marcia's  infant  girl  born 
a  little  later.  She  was  assured  that  her  child  had 


A    SPECKLED    BIRD  41 

never  known  life  on  earth,  and  had  been  in  his  coffin 
but  a  few  hours  when  Eglah  first  opened  her  eyes. 
Souls  never  die.  What  of  the  soulless  still-born? 
Would  God  deny  any  Christian  mother  reunion  with 
her  innocent  baby  in  the  world  of  spirits?  From 
the  hour  that  Marcia's  wailing  rhild  was  laid  on 
Eliza's  bosom  she  accepted  it  as  an  incarnation  of  the 
soul  of  little  Elliot,  adrift  in  space  but  housed  at  last 
in  the  form  committed  to  her  fostering  care.  Whether 
this  phantasmal  belief  sprang  from  feverish  conditions 
under  which  she  first  felt  the  baby's  warm  lips  at  her 
breast,  Eliza  never  questioned;  and  as  the  years 
passed  the  conviction  strengthened,  until  she  easily 
explained  all  Eglah's  waywardness  by  the  hypothesis 
that  a  boy's  soul  fretted  under  the  limitations  of  a 
girl's  body.  Ignorant  of  the  complex  elements  that 
fed  her  devotion  to  the  child,  even  Mrs.  Maurice 
could  not  fully  understand  her  idolatrous  fondness, 
her  perfect  and  marvellous  patience  that  condoned 
all  errors,  and  only  Eglah  could  have  told  how  often 
she  was  fondled  as  "  my  Elliot "  when  cradle  songs 
were  crooned  in  the  sanctuary  of  the  nursery.  Not 
withstanding  Mrs.  Mitchell  was  zealous  in  mission 
ary  work,  and  when  she  read  her  reports  as  treasurer 
of  the  "  Hindustan  "  fund,  she  dwelt  feelingly  on  the 
benighted  superstition  that  worshipped  idols  and  be 
lieved  in  transmigration  of  soul. 

After  Mrs.  Maurice's  death,  Mr.  Whitfield  as  ad 
ministrator  closed  Nutwood,  leaving  Aaron  and  his 
daughter  Celia  custodians,  and  Eglah  and  Eliza  went 
to  Washington,  where  two  small  rooms  were  selected 
for  their  occupancy  in  the  fashionable  "  apartments  " 
leased  by  Senator  Kent.  His  daughter  now  en 
joyed  every  educational  advantage  that  a  governess 


42  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

for  modern  languages  and  a  tutor  for  Greek  and 
mathematics  could  supply,  while  teachers  in  the  entire 
range  of  feminine  accomplishments  were  eager  to 
encourage  cultivation  of  any  special  talent.  In  dan 
cing  and  riding  she  was  found  surprisingly  proficient, 
and  as  Senator  Kent  was  desirous  she  should  enter 
as  early  as  possible  a  "  woman's  college  "  in  his  native 
State  where  one  of  his  sisters  was  professor,  the  child 
was  industriously  coached  to  achieve  this  purpose. 

Standing  as  it  were  on  the  rim  of  a  new  world, 
strewn  with  the  flotsam  and  jetsam  of  shattered  politi 
cal,  ethical,  and  domestic  systems,  where  all  nations 
and  social  conditions  found  representation,  Eglah  and 
Eliza  confronted  novel  customs,  strange  beliefs,  and 
cosmopolitan  diction  that  clashed  sharply  on  the  con 
servative  standards  of  old  Southern  usage.  Tethered 
to  the  pivot  of  her  Methodist  discipline,  Mrs.  Mitchell 
swung  around  the  narrow  circle  of  conscientious  or 
thodoxy;  but  Eglah  made  alarming  excursions  into 
ecclesiastical  provinces,  and  their  first  serious  alterca 
tion  arose  from  the  announcement  that  the  girl  had 
decided  to  join  the  class  for  confirmation  in  the  Epis 
copal  church  where  Judge  Kent  worshipped. 

"  Confirmation  ?  Oh,  no ;  you  are  too  young  to 
take  such  an  important  step/' 

"  Now,  Ma-Lila,  would  you  say  that  if  I  asked  to 
join  the  Methodist  Church?" 

"  That  would  be  different,  because  you  know  more 
about  the  Church  in  which  you  have  been  raised." 

"  I  know  the  Episcopal  catechism  from  cover  to 
cover,  and  I  like  the  service,  and  the  choristers, 
and  the  candles  used  in  some  Episcopal  churches, 
and " 

"  Dearie,  you  merely  want  to  follow  your  father, 
and,  moreover " 


A    SPECKLED    BIRD  43 

"  Did  not  you  follow  your  father?  You  are  what 
you  are  just  because  your  father  was  a  Methodist 
preacher,  and  a  chaplain  who  was  killed  bringing  my 
grandfather  off  the  battle-field.  What  are  fathers 
for,  if  not  to  set  us  examples  ?  " 

"  Do  you  forget  your  dear  grandmother,  and  her 
love  for  the  church  you  were  christened  in,  and  could 
you  who  owe  her  so  much  defy  her  wishes?" 

"  Grandmother  is  so  glad  to  get  away  and  be  in 
heaven  that  she  never  will  worry  over  me  any  more; 
and  if  I  am  only  good  enough  to  go  where  she  is  when 
I  die,  what  difference  will  it  make  to  her  how  I  got 
there?  Seems  to  me,  Ma-Lila,  all  this  strife  over 
different  faiths  is  as  foolish  as  denying  people  their 
choice  of  routes  when  they  go  travelling  in  summer. 
If  we  have  perfect  right  to  trust  our  bodies  to  our 
favorite  railroad,  we  ought  to  feel  as  free  to  take 
tickets  for  our  souls  on  any  line  that  leads  to  God." 

Eliza  took  the  girl's  hands  and  pressed  the  soft 
palms  to  her  own  cheeks,  as  she  said,  in  a  voice  that 
faltered  despite  her  will : 

"  My  darling,  let  us  wait.  Promise  me  one  thing; 
do  nothing  for  another  year  at  least.  For  my  sake, 
baby,  I  beg  of  you." 

Eglah  saw  unshed  tears  in  the  black  eyes  that  had 
always  shone  tenderly  on  her,  and  rising  she  stole 
one  arm  around  the  nurse's  neck  and  kissed  her 
unsteady  lips. 

"  Please  don't  fret  about  it.  You  shall  have  your 
wish.  Of  course  I  will  wait  a  year  if  you  think  it 
best;  but  you  must  help  me,  because  somehow  it  is 
harder  for  me  to  be  good  here  than  it  was  down  at 
home." 


44  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

"  It  is  a  sacred  promise  you  make  me  now." 

"  I  told  you  I  would  wait.  Did  I  ever  deceive  you  ? 
You  ought  to  know  me  better  than  Mrs.  Kent,  and 
even  she  told  father  yesterday  she  had  been  trying 
to  find  out  whether  I  had  most  talent  for  the  piano 
or  the  mandolin,  and  she  concluded  I  really  had  no 
talent  for  anything — showed  only  genius  for  telling 
the  truth." 

Thenceforth  Mrs.  Mitchell  redoubled  her  efforts  to 
control  the  spiritual  aspirations  of  the  girl  to  whom 
she  had  devoted  her  life,  and  the  bargain  she  made 
with  her  conscience  was  that  Judge  Kent  had  the 
right  to  train  and  develop  and  decorate  the  body  of 
his  daughter,  even  along  lines  she  deemed  Philistine, 
but  the  immortal  spark — the  soul  intended  for  her 
little  Elliot — was  immutably  hers,  to  be  saved  eter 
nally  in  the  faith  to  which  her  own  hopes  were  an 
chored.  That  night,  when  she  had  brushed  and 
braided  Eglah's  golden-brown  hair  that  no  one  else 
ever  arranged,  she  suddenly  caught  the  slim  form  in 
a  straining  embrace. 

"  God  bless  my  Elliot — my  own  precious  baby !  " 

"  It  has  been  a  long  time  since  you  called  me 
Elliot,  and  it  sounds  queer  to  give  me  the  name  of 
your  boy.  Why  should  you?  " 

"  You  are  my  boy,  and  my  Eglah  also ;  two  in  one, 
and  my  only  joy  in  all  the  world.  Don't  argue, 
dearie;  go  to  sleep." 

She  lifted  her  into  bed  and  tucked  the  silk  quilt 
carefully  about  her,  as  though  crib  days  had  not 
ended. 

"  Ma-Lila,  if  we  should  all  meet  in  heaven — and 
I  do  hope  that  somehow  I  shall  get  there — I  am 
afraid  I  shall  feel  puzzled  to  know  who  really  is  my 


A.    SPECKLED    BIRD  45 

mother,  because  it  seems  to  me  I  belong  more  to  you 
than  to  anybody  else  except  father ;  but  then  grand 
mother  will  certainly  be  there,  and  she  will  carry  me 
straight  to  that  special  spot — the  heavenly  '  west-end' 
— where  all  the  Maurices  dwell,  and  hand  me  over  to 
her  Marcia:  the  beautiful  one  I  never  saw,  my  own 
mother,  who  would  not  wait  in  this  world  long 
enough  to  look  at  me." 

"  Hush,  my  lamb  !     Good  night." 

In  the  adjoining  room  she  sat  down  at  a  table 
where  books  were  piled,  and  opening  one  read  a 
marked  passage: 

"  The  story  was  told  by  the  owner  of  a  shop  where 
was  sold  the  amber-tinted  syrup  of  malt  given  to 
young  children  when  milk  could  not  be  obtained.  A 
pale  woman  in  white  came  very  late  for  many  nights 
to  buy  a  cup  of  this  syrup — midzu  aine — but  never 
spoke. 

"  One  night,  when  she  beckoned  him  to  follow,  he 
went  with  her  to  the  cemetery,  where  she  suddenly 
vanished  in  a  tomb,  and  he  heard  a  young  child  cry 
ing  under  ground.  On  opening  the  tomb  there  was 
found  the  corpse  of  the  woman,  and  by  her  side  a 
young  infant  smiling,  who  had  been  fed  from  a 
cup  of  midzu  ame  in  the  hand  of  the  corpse.  The 
woman  had  by  mistake  been  prematurely  buried. 
The  child  was  born  in  the  grave,  and  love — stronger 
than  death — compelled  the  ghost  to  provide  nourish 
ment  for  her  baby." 

Eliza  closed  the  volume  and  tossed  it  across  the 
table. 

"  As  if  we  needed  old  heathen  Japan  to  teach  us 
the  length  and  breadth  and  depth  and  deathlessness 
of  maternal  devotion,  when  we  know  from  the  Bible 


46  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

that  though  God  in  heaven  forsook  His  Son,   the 
earthly  mother  clung  to  Jesus !  " 

It  was  an  intensely  cold,  windless,  brilliant  moon 
light  night  in  January,  two  years  after  she  came  to 
live  in  Washington,  and  when  the  clock  struck  eleven 
she  heard  a  quick  but  cautious  step  in  the  corridor 
and  a  slight  tap  at  her  door.  Mr.  Herriott  stood  at 
the  threshold  and  beckoned  her  to  the  head  of  the 
steps. 

"Is  Eglah  asleep?" 

"  I  think  she  is." 

"  Come  down-stairs  quietly." 

In  the  lower  hall,  where  the  lights  burned  brightly, 
she  saw  that  he  looked  pale  and  troubled. 

"  Mrs.  Mitchell,  a  terrible  blow  has  fallen  upon  us. 
Mrs.  Kent  went  sleighing  with  some  friends,  and  the 
horses  became  uncontrollable.  The  sleigh  was  over 
turned,  and  poor  Nina,  thrown  against  a  stone  wall, 
was  killed  instantly.  Will  you  do  what  is  best  when 
she  is  brought  home?  Don't  rouse  little  Eglah.  I 
am  going  to  find  Senator  Kent,  who  is  in  committee 
meeting,  and  break  the  news  as  gently  as  possible. 
Poor,  dear  Nina!  So  merry,  so  kind  hearted! 
Laughing  and  chaffing  me  for  my  awkwardness  when 
I  tucked  the  lap  robe  about  her  feet." 

Once  more  death  levelled  a  wall  that  in  some  de 
gree  barred  Eglah  from  her  father,  and  from  that 
wintry  night  she  dated  the  beginning  of  her  happy 
reign  over  his  undivided  affection — a  monopoly  she 
had  long  coveted  as  the  supreme  privilege  and  crown 
of  life. 


CHAPTER   V 

"  Has  the  success  of  the  experiment  justified  the 
labor  and  enthusiasm  you  spent  upon  it?" 

"  Yes,  Noel,  the  result  far  surpasses  my  hopes,  and 
I  am  impatient  for  you  to  visit  us,  not  only  to  under 
stand  fully  the  complete  success  of  the  work,  but  to 
receive  the  grateful  acknowledgments  of  every  mem 
ber  of  the  Order." 

"  Then  you  bar  your  doors  against  me,  because  any 
expression  of  thanks  is  annoying,  and  the  great  pleas 
ure  I  gave  myself  in  deeding  the  property  to  you 
would  be  marred.  Remember,  Vernon,  I  am  not  a 
well-rounded  character,  measured  by  your  ecclesias 
tical  tape-line,  and  one  of  my  ugly  angles  is  aversion 
to  thanks.  If  you  have  drained  the  marshland  and 
reclaimed  the  house  from  mildew  and  mice  you  have 
made  your  neighbors  debtors." 

'  The  same  Noel  Herriott  of  college  days !  " 

"  Only  more  so,  if  you  please.  Nothing  human  is 
immutable,  and  if  a  man  does  not  improve  he  grows 
worse.  By  the  way,  is  your  reverence  still '  Brother  ' 
Temple,  or  have  you  climbed  the  ladder  of  spiritual 
promotion?  " 

"  I  am  always  Vernon  to  you,  but  the  world  knows 
me  as  '  Father  '  Temple.  When  will  you  come  to  us 
at '  Calvary  House  '  and  inspect  the  rich  harvest  from 
the  seed  you  sowed?  I  long  for  the  one  thing  you 
have  withheld — your  deep,  hearty  sympathy  in  my 
grand  and  holy  work." 


48  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

"  Meaning  that  nothing  less  than  the  three  vows 
will  assure  you  of  my  safety  ?  " 

"  That  is  beyond  all  that  I  ever  dared  to  hope,  but 
your  cordial  approbation  would  cheer  me  more  than 
the  indorsement  of  any  other  man.  Generous  though 
you  are  in  financial  assistance,  your  mental  attitude 
toward  our  Order  is  that  of  the  smiling  tolerance 
with  which  one  watches  a  child  building  a  house  of 
cards." 

"  However  tentative  my  opinion  relative  to  the 
scope  and  permanence  of  your  religious  movement, 
you  cannot  doubt  that  I  earnestly  desire  the  success 
to  which  the  sanctity  of  your  motive  entitles  you. 
Partial  as  I  am  to  gymnastic  methods,  I  allow  no 
athletic  feats  in  my  mental  processes;  I  neither  run 
nor  leap  to  conclusions,  and  you  must  give  rne  time. 
You  and  I  always  approach  vital  questions  by  dif 
ferent  paths:  you  lean  generally  to  collectiveness ;  I 
usually  prefer  the  slower  leverage  of  individualism, 
You  are  burning  the  candle  of  life  at  both  ends,  and 
trying  to  realize  your  noble  ideals ;  I  plod  far  behind, 
with  only  a  feeble  taper  and  indulge  no  higher  hope 
than  to  idealize  my  realities." 

"  When  will  you  come  to  the  lovely  home  you  have 
given  us  ?  There  is  one  room  we  have  called  '  Found 
er's/  and  set  apart  for  you ;  and,  Noel,  no  sun  sets  that 
has  not  brought  us  to  our  knees  in  prayer  for  you 
who  made  it  possible  for  us  to  own  a  chapel.  When 
shall  we  welcome  you?  " 

"  Not  now.  I  must  go  home,  where  matters  need 
attention.  Strange,  is  it  not,  that  the  magic  of  a 
name  should  outlive  all  it  represents?  That  lonely 
old  stone  house  staring  at  its  shadow  on  the  lake  has 
no  vital  element  of  home  except  my  horses  and  dogs, 


A    SPECKLED    BIRD  49 

and  one  Maltese  cat  that  sleeps  in  my  arm-chair. 
When  Nina  married  Senator  Kent  the  last  thread 
that  tied  me  to  anything  like  domesticity  snapped,  and 
I  followed  my  bent  and  prowled  from  land  to  land." 
/ "  Why  do  you  not  marry  some  sweet,  gentle 
woman  and  settle  yourself?" 

"  Scarcely  the  advice  one  might  expect  from  the 

I  priestly  Father  of  an  Anglican  celibate  order.     Has 

your  creed  narrowed  to  such  alternatives?     Either  a 

l  at  Calvary  or  the  snare  and  disillusions  of  mar 
riage?  Unfortunately  for  me,  women  have  exerted 
only  a  traditional  influence  on  my  life.  My  own 
young  mother  died  before  I  coulcPremember  her, 
and  I  was  consignecTto  tutors  when  I  should  have* 
been  trundling  hoops.  I  went  early  to  college,  and 
after  father's  second  marriage  was  rarely  at  home; 
hence  my  acquaintance  with  women  in  the  home 
circle  is  nebulous  and  legendary.  As  a  boy  I  dis 
dained  sweethearts;  as  a  man  they  disdain  me.  The 
only  woman  I  ever  really  cared  for  would  no  more 
marry  me  than  a  stone  slab  in  a  cemetery;  so,  with 
many  thanks,  I  cannot  utilize  your  counsel,  and  it 
only  remains  for  you  to  keep  a  cell  for  me  at  Calvary. 
Some  day  at  eventide  I  may  creep  in,  and  you  will 
kindly  shrive  and  bless  me." 

Mr.  Herriott  had  been  leaning  back  in  his  chair, 
with  his  hands  clasped  behind  his  head,  and  when  he 
rose  he  towered  six  feet  two  inches,  smiling  gravely 
at  the  upturned  face  of  Father  Temple,  whose  sombre 
clerical  habit  contrasted  vividly  with  the  white  yacht 
ing  flannels  worn  by  his  friend. 

"  Ah,  Noel,  what  a  Viking  you  look !     Save  prize 
fighting,  is  there  anything  in  the  realm  of  athletics 
you  have  not  accomplished?  " 
4 


50  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

"  I  fear  you  would  not  compliment  me  with  even 
that  civilized  exception  if  you  had  seen  a  skirmish, 
minus  weapons,  that  I  had  with  a  hairy,  tattooed 
Dyak  in  a  Borneo  jungle  where  I  hunted  orchids. 
Vernon,  if  you  trained  your  muscles  more,  and  let 
up  a  little  on  your  soul,  allowed  it  a  breathing  spell, 
you  would  not  look  so  flaccid  and  anaemic.  Don't 
prefer  monkish  Latin  to  Juvenal:  mens  sana  in  cor- 
pore  sano!  You  observe,  respect  for  your  Rever 
ence  prevents  my  offering  you  the  Rabelais  parody. 
Come,  dine  with  me  to-night." 

"  No,  thank  you.  I  am  to  give  a  brief  '  retreat/ 
Tell  me  about  my  cousin  Eglah;  you  crossed  the 
ocean  in  the  same  steamer." 

'  You  have  not  seen  her?  " 

"  For  a  few  moments  only.    She  is  a  beautiful  girl." 

"  What  remains  to  be  said — since  you  accord  her 
the  mantle  of  beauty,  whose  folds,  broader  even  than 
charity's,  hide  all  defects?  Where  shall  I  begin? 
Being  her  cousin,  you  must  know  what  I  have  merely 
heard :  that  she  swept  through  college  like  a  southern 
tornado — or  should  I  have  said  like  a  meteor? — 
carrying  off  the  honors,  and  was  the  youngest  gradu 
ate  who  had  ever  turned  the  heads  of  the  spectacled 
lecturers.  Yet  it  appears  she  values  her  trophy 
merely  because  her  laurels  pleased  her  father,  at 
whose  feet  she  sits  in  adoration.  In  her  physique, 
gymnastic  training  leaves  nothing  to  be  improved; 
she  won  badges,  and  can  hold  her  own  at  basket-ball, 
tennis,  rowing,  and  swimming.  Is  not  the  catalogue 
complete?  So  much  for  mental  attainments  and 
physical  perfection,  but  in  the  domain  of  womanly 
emotions  she  is  simply  an  unknown  quantity — a  lat 
ter-day  sphinx,  fresh  and  fair  before  drifting  desert 


A    SPECKLED    BIRD  51 

sands  deface  her.  If  a  lover  should  ever  win  her 
heart  he  will  certainly  be  entitled  to  it,  by  the  supreme 
right  of  discovery.  Her  affection  for  Judge  Kent 
absolutely  rules  her,  and  in  one  respect  she  is  unique, 
she  is  as  utterly  incapable  of  flirtations  as  an  un 
fledged  owl.  " 

"  On  account  of  the  family  connection  you  have 
been  thrown  so  intimately  into  her  society  that  I 
hoped  you  could  tell  me  something  of  her  religious 
tendencies." 

"  I  am  such  a  confirmed  tramp  that  my  visits  to  the 
family  have  been  brief  and  interrupted  by  long  ab 
sences.  Eglah  always  appealed  peculiarly  to  my  sym 
pathy  because  of  the  pathetic  antagonism  of  her  en 
vironment.  Your  cousin,  Judge  Kent,  was  very  much 
disliked  at  the  South,  where  sectional  political  rancor 
was,  is,  and  will  be  rife,  and  his  child  suffered  keenly 
on  that  account.  When  she  came  north  to  live,  her 
social  surroundings  were  even  worse,  because  she 
furiously  resented  every  reflection  upon  the  people 
of  the  South,  where  the  Maurices  were  conspicuous  in 
war  records.  Her  efforts  at  loyalty  all  around  the 
circle  have  not  made  smooth  sailing  for  her,  and  her 
motives  were  doubtless  complex.  You  are  curious 
about  her  '  religious  tendencies '  ?  If  you  are  wise 
you  will  not  stir  any  Calvary  leaven  into  the  pure 
sweet  flour  of  her  soul,  unless  you  covet  war  a  ou- 
trance  with  that  nondescript  personage  Mrs.  Mitchell 
— an  anomalous  blend,  alert  as  a  lynx,  wary  as  a  fox, 
stealthy  as  a  cougar — who  serves  Eglah  in  divers  and 
sundry  capacities :  an  amalgamated  foster-mother, 
housekeeper,  maid,  companion,  chaperon,  and  con 
fidante.  She  is  a  Simon-pure  puritan,  prim  as  Pris- 
cilla,and  her  processes  of  reasoning  are  quite  as  broad 


52  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

as  the  edge  of  a  razor.  That  she  viciously  opposes 
all  forms  of  '  ritualism  '  I  happen  to  know  from  lis 
tening  to  a  discussion  between  her  and  Eglah,  in 
which  the  whole  bundle  of  dogmas  was  thrashed  out, 
from  '  historic  episcopate '  and  '  confession '  to  in 
cense,  candles,  and  '  reservation  of  the  sacrament/ 
What  a  pile  of  chaff  they  built !  Eglah's  appreciation 
of  sensuous  beauty  and  classical  music  inclines  her  to 
gorgeous  vestments,  jewelled  windows,  and  the  rhyth 
mic  chanting  of  choristers  that  lift  their  chins  like 
Raphael's  cherubs,  but  Mrs.  Mitchell  finds  in  the 
severe  simplicity  of  her  own  tabernacle  an  added 
sanctity,  and  your  Calvary  House  will  be  to  her  that 
of  Rimmon.  In  Rome  Judge  Kent  had  a  touch  of 
fever  which  frightened  Eglah  into  telegraphing  for 
me  at  Basle,  where  I  was  attending  a  scientific  con 
gress,  so  we  came  home  together." 

"  If  Eglah's  enthusiasm  could  be  aroused  in  our 
mission  work,  she  would  wield  an  incalculable  power 
for  good.'* 

"  Vernon — pardon  the  lapse  into  argot — '  don't ! ' 
Let  the  child  pick  her  own  way  to  peace.  She  is  not 
addicted  to  enthusiasms :  one  attack  long  ago  de 
stroyed  her  susceptibility  to  subsequent  seizures ;  she 
can  be  enthusiastic  over  only  one  teraph — her  father. 
Must  you  go  ?  Wait  a  moment.  Friendship  is  frank, 
and  I  am  sorry  to  see  you  losing  the  vigor  that  in  col 
lege  days  distinguished  you.  Fast  less,  and  sleep 
more.  Come  home  with  me  and  hunt  and  fish  and 
row,  and  let  other  people's  souls  enjoy  a  vacation." 

As  they  shook  hands  Father  Temple  asked : 

"  And  what  have  scientific  congresses  done  for 
your  soul,  Noel?  " 

"  Drawn  me  closer,  I  hope,  to  the  Creator  whose 


A    SPECKLED    BIRD  53 

subtle  and  inexorable  laws  are  best  revealed  to  the 
faithful  student  that  fearlessly  analyzes  His  universal 
work.  The  sole  aim  of  scientists  is  '  to  admit  noth 
ing  false,  and  to  omit  nothing  true.'  Vernon,  have 
faith  in  me  as  of  old,  and  keep  a  cell  whitewashed  for 
me  at  Calvary  House.  Truly — 

"  So  many  paths  lead  up  to  God, 
'Twere  strange  if  any  soul  should  miss  them  all." 

With  his  hand  on  the  stair  rail  the  minister  paused 
and  looked  back. 

"  One  thing  T  wish  to  ask  is  whether  Eglah  had 
any  special  admirers  abroad  ?  American  heiresses  are 
attractive." 

"  She  had  as  many  beaux  as  she  chose  to  permit. 
Two  attaches  of  American  legations  were  particularly 
attentive,  and  a  handsome  English  naval  officer  whose 
father  is  a  duke  will  doubtless  cross  the  ocean  to  re 
new  his  acquaintance.  Possess  your  soul  in  patience. 
Her  heart  is  as  sound  asleep  as  when  she  dreamed  in 
her  crib,  and  the  man  who  wakes  and  wins  it  will 
travel  no  macadamized  road.  Before  Lent  she  will 
be  in  New  York  for  a  week,  and  when  Congress  ad 
journs  the  family  will  come  to  me  on  the  Lake  for 
a  visit." 

Given  a  man  of  thirty-three,  unusually  good-look 
ing,  possessing  by  inheritance  a  large  fortune,  dow 
ered  with  infinite  leisure  upon  which  no  professional 
duties  laid  intrusive  claim,  handicapped  by  no  church 
obligations,  and  the  world  assumes  that  he  has  inevi 
tably  run  the  gamut  of  those  iniquities  set  by  Satan 
as  snares  for  the  idle  rich.  Intensely  virile  as  was 
Noel  Herriott,  his  polished  placidity  of  manner  and 


54  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

courteous  conservatism  masked  in  some  degree  the 
strength  and  tenacious  obstinacy  of  a  character  that 
presented  enigmatical  phases  to  those  who  knew  him 
best.  Heredity  and  education  had  combined  in 
kneading  him  physically,  mentally,  and  morally  along 
rather  peculiar  curves  during  the  plastic  period  of 
boyhood,  and  the  finishing  touches  that  determined 
the  mould  came  from  his  parting  interview  with  his 
Presbyterian  father,  when  Fergus  Herriott  sent  him 
away  to  college. 

"  My  son,  God  gave  you  a  remarkably  fine  body. 
Neither  neglect  nor  abuse  it,  but  be  sure  you  master 
it  from  the  start,  else  you  will  be  the  slave  of  your 
own  flesh.  Bad  habits  are  the  leeches  that  would 
suck  a  Hercules  to  effeminacy.  Steer  as  clear  of  the 
sins  labelled  '  Thou  shalt  not "  as  you  would  of  that 
leper  island  down  in  the  Pacific.  The  ten  command 
ments  are  equal  links  in  the  moral  chain,  and  it  is 
no  man's  privilege  to  pick  and  choose  which  he  will 
break  or  which  he  will  keep;  because  if  he  violates 
one,  it  is  merely  a  question  of  temptation,  necessity, 
and  opportunity  when  he  will  transgress  all.  If  he 
bears  false  witness  and  lies,  he  will  steal  money  as  he 
filched  character ;  if  he  covets  his  neighbor's  wife,  the 
time  comes  when  he  murders  her  husband.  Falsus 
in  uno,  falsus  in  omnibus.  You  are  going  where  you 
will  hear  much  fine  talk  about  '  lofty,  broadening, 
philosophic  ideals '  and  '  progressive,  altruistic  stan 
dards  of  humanitarianism  and  honor/  Now  mark 
you,  God's  laws  are  not  '  progressive/  they  are  abso 
lutely  fixed,  and  when  you  are  as  old  as  I  am  you  will 
have  learned  that  '  man's  honor,'  unless  based  on 
them,  is  merely  a  sliding  scale  set  up  on  a  quicksand. 
My  boy,  try  to  lead  such  a  clean  life  that  when  the 


A    SPECKLED    BIRD  55 

mirror  of  records  is  held  up  to  you  in  the  final  judg 
ment  you  will  not  squirm  and  want  to  look  the  other 
way;  and  now,  my  last  word  is,  you  had  the  great 
misfortune  to  lose  your  dear,  sweet  mother  in  this 
world — be  sure  you  deserve  to  find  her  in  the  next." 

During  the  journey  to  college  he  found  in  his  well- 
filled  pocket-book  a  folded  sheet  containingadditional 
memoranda  in  his  father's  cramped,  old-fashioned 
writing. 

"  Be  honest  first,  then  generous — never  wasteful. 
Pose  on  no  pedestals  and  you  will  escape  falls.  Avoid 
priggishness,  which  is  detestable  mental  dry-rot ;  and 
flee  from  cant,  the  convenient  domino  of  hypocrisy. 
Cultivate  genuine  sympathy  for  all  suffering  human 
ity,  and  remember  that  a  man's  safest  companion  is 
his  own  conscientious,  incorruptible  self-respect." 

Doubtless  in  the  years  that  followed  Noel  realized 
that  indeed 

"  Souls  were  dangerous  things  to  carry  straight 
Through  all  the  spilt  saltpetre  of  the  world ;  " 

but  that  he  succeeded  fairly  well  might  have  been  in 
ferred  from  a  certain  scar  on  his  throat,  received  while 
chastising  two  of  his  classmates  who  had  caricatured 
him  in  doggerel  under  the  title  of  "  Sir  Dandy  Gala 
had."  Misled  by  the  quiet  reserve  of  his  manner, 
and  an  inborn  courtesy  that  made  him  as  good  a  lis 
tener  as  talker,  strangers  never  suspected  the  exist 
ence  of  a  temper  fierce  and,  when  fully  aroused,  well- 
nigh  implacable.  In  his  third  collegiate  year  the 
death  of  his  father  left  him  untrammelled  in  the  se 
lection  of  a  profession,  and  soon  after  he  entered  into 
possession  of  a  fortune  so  large  that  its  golden  key 
would  have  opened  the  door  of  almost  any  career  he 


56  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

might  have  chosen.  His  mental  trend  was  toward 
scientific  studies,  and  his  dominant  scheme  of  investiga 
tion  embraced  the  elusive  problems  of  anthropology. 
His  individual  and  favorite  hypothesis  involved  the 
genesis  of  aboriginal  American  man,  and  to  secure 
all  pre-historic  and  especially  pre-glacial  data  he  had 
attended  post-collegiate  lectures  at  several  European 
universities,  supplemented  by  sojourns  in  Central 
America,  Pacific  Islands,  and  British  North  America. 
Since  the  death  of  his  stepmother,  Mr.  Herriott 
had  established  temporary  headquarters  in  New  York 
in  "  apartments  "  not  far  from  the  old  Herriott  house, 
which  by  provision  of  his  wife's  will  was  now  the 
property  of  Judge  Kent.  While  the  family  of  the 
senator  usually  remained  in  Washington,  Eglah  and 
Mrs.  Mitchell  frequently  spent  a  week  in  New  York, 
and  on  such  occasions,  if  Noel  chanced  to  be  in  the 
city,  they  relied  upon  him  to  serve  as  escort  when 
needed.  That  he  had  successfully  run  the  gauntlet  of 
Eliza's  years  of  cautious,  suspicious  observation,  and 
finally  commanded  her  admiring  confidence,  contrib 
uted  in  some  degree  to  the  easy  camaraderie  main 
tained  between  Eglah  and  himself:  on  her  part  a 
genuinely  trusting  friendship,  pure  and  simple;  on 
his  that  cool,  watchful  quietude  that  holds  in  leash 
the  one  deep  passionate  love  of  a  strong  nature  and 
a  lonely  life.  From  the  day  he  first  saw  the  little 
quivering  white-clad  girl  standing  in  the  sunset  glow 
that  flooded  the  fragrant,  flower-filled  dining-room 
at  Nutwood,  he  had  opened  the  empty  temple  of  his 
heart,  and  where  no  image  dwelt — save  the  memory 
of  his  father — he  lifted  this  child  to  a  pure  altar,  and 
offered  silent  homage. 


CHAPTER   VI 

"  Of  course,  Mr.  Herriott,  you  are  vastly  amused 
by  my  ambitious  pretension." 

"Why  Mr.  Herriott?  And  why  assume  amuse 
ment  which  I  certainly  have  not  expressed?  " 

"  Not  verbally ;  but  I  quite  understand  that  look  in 
your  eyes,  when  by  sheer  force  of  will  you  hold  your 
lips  from  smiling.  Only  courtesy  keeps  in  check 
your  contempt  for  our  '  higher  education.' ' 

"  Eglah,  be  a  little  more  just  in  your  generaliza 
tions.  If  the  education  be  really  '  higher '  and  thor 
ough,  no  reasonable  man  could  afford  to  disparage  it. 
You  have  spent  the  morning  over  volumes  of  tedi 
ous  statistics,  extracting  figures  on  ad  valorem  and 
'  specific '  schedules  that  only  a  custom-house  clerk 
or  a  tariff  expert  could  utilize  by  eliminating  non- 
essentials  and  compiling  valuable  tables.  Why  waste 
this  perfect  day  over  metric  puzzles — dekameter,  hec 
toliter,  myriagram?" 

"  Father  wished  the  exact  figures,  and  to  work  for 
him  is  my  greatest  pleasure." 

"  Do  not  confound  motive  and  accomplishment. 
Your  father's  secretary  would  have  collected  the  sta 
tistics  in  half  the  time  and  in  a  more  satisfactory  form, 
simply  because  he  has  been  trained  for  such  search, 
as  dogs  are  taught  to  hunt  truffles." 

"  Mr.  Metcalf  was  needed  in  Washington,  and  as 
father  has  tried  me  sufficiently  to  trust  the  accuracy 
of  my  work,  he  asked  me  to  make  this  investigation 


58  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

while  I  was  in  New  York.  Mr.  Noel,  to  help  him 
even  in  trifles  is  my  very  life;  he  is  my  world,  my  all." 

Mr.  Herriott  lifted  his  hat  and  bowed. 

"  Your  devotion  is  beautiful  and  sacred,  and  Judge 
Kent  should  feel  proud  of  the  list  of  rivals  he  so  suc 
cessfully  defies.  Perhaps  it  has  not  yet  occurred  to 
him  that  in  chaining  yourself  to  his  library  desk  you 
are  restricted  to  sawdust  diet." 

"  Varied  now  and  then,  you  must  admit,  by  ban 
quets  of  opera,  germans,  receptions,  teas,  theatre  par 
ties,  and  the  embassies.  When  I  was  working  so  hard 
at  college  I  looked  forward  eagerly  to  '  coming  out/ 
as  to  a  magical  door  that  would  swing  suddenly  open 
into  a  wonderful  world,  where,  because  of  new  con 
ditions,  I  should  become  a  different  person,  and  shed 
my  girlish  ideas  as  serpents  slip  their  skins ;  but  since 
the  '  open  sesame/  and  I  have  '  arrived/  I  seem  to 
have  lost  nothing  of  the  past,  and  my  old,  tiresome 
self  is  tyrannous  as  ever." 

"  Is  social  life  in  Washington  disappointing?  " 

"  That  is  scarcely  the  right  term.  Life  is  certainly 
very  brilliant,  and  gay  and  panoramic,  and  I  enjoy 
music  and  dancing,  and  some  dinner  parties;  above 
all,  I  find  keen  pleasure  in  following  a  spirited  debate 
in  the  House,  or  listening  to  speeches  in  the  Senate, 
but  sometimes  I  catch  myself  wondering  if  this  is  in 
deed  all — the  veritable  kernel  of  society,  politics, 
diplomacy,  or  merely  the  shell  partly  cracked.  Life 
here  and  in  Washington  does  not  seem  so  absolutely 
real  as  it  was  at  home,  at  Nutwood." 

They  were  driving  in  Central  Park,  and  Eglah 
shared  the  front  seat  of  the  trap  where  Mr.  Herriott 
held  the  reins  of  his  spirited  horses,  and  brought  them 
down  to  a  steady,  rapid  trot.  It  was  a  cold  but  sunny 


A    SPECKLED    BIRD  59 

day  in  February,  and  as  he  laced  his  way  in  and  out 
of  the  stream  of  vehicles,  he  and  his  companion  were 
the  theme  of  much  comment  from  the  passing  throng. 
Fastidious  in  the  matter  of  clothes,  he  was  always 
remarkably  well  dressed — a  fact  accentuated  by  his 
unusual  height  and  erect  carriage — and  at  the  two 
fashionable  clubs  to  which  he  belonged  he  was  gen 
erally  regarded  "  as  all  around,  the  best  looking  mem 
ber."  The  dark  steel-blue  grey  eyes — with  no  hint 
of  yellow — which  his  Scotch  father  gave  him,  lost 
something  of  their  penetrating  brilliance  under  the 
long  jet  lashes  that,  with  black  brows  and  thick  clus 
tering  hair,  his  mother  had  contributed,  and  his  nat 
urally  clear  olive  skin  had  been  weather-tanned  in 
various  climates  to  a  browner  tint.  In  profile  his  face 
resembled  a  bronze  medallion,  and  when  he  smiled 
his  well-cut  lips,  that  in  repose  seemed  ominously 
thin,  showed  curves  of  rare  beauty  around  a  faultless 
set  of  teeth.  The  sun  of  prosperity  had  ripened  and 
mellowed  his  manhood,  and,  as  yet,  no  acid  of  cyni 
cism  had  invaded  his  nature. 

Gowned  in  a  fur-trimmed  cloth  of  hunter's  green, 
Eglah  wore  a  velvet  toque  of  same  hue,  that  failed 
to  conceal  the  mass  of  golden-brown  hair  burnished 
by  sunshine  into  the  similitude  of  a  white-oak  leaf 
dyed  in  autumn.  Under  delicate,  level  brows,  her 
large  dark  eyes — chataigne  in  some  lights,  almost 
black  at  times — were  set  rather  far  apart  in  an  oval 
face  whose  exquisitely  clear,  pure  pallor  was  stained 
only  by  the  healthy  rich  red  of  slender  lips,  that  had 
a  treacherous  trick  of  quivering  when  any  strong 
emotion  stirred  the  deeps  of  her  heart.  By  the  ac 
cepted  canons  of  art  and  cultured  taste  her  form  and 
features  had  been  adjudged  "  beautiful,"  and  some 


60  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

great-grandmother  of  the  far  South  had  dowered  her 
with  a  peculiar  grace  of  movement — not  languid,  nor 
sinuous,  nor  Delsartian — a  natural  idiosyncrasy  that 
made  the  manner  of  her  steps,  the  lifting  of  head 
and  motion  of  hands,  unlike  other  women's.  Only 
one  gift — most  potent  of  all — had  been  withheld  from 
her  birthright :  she  was  absolutely  devoid  of  personal 
magnetism,  and  her  habitual  cold  indifference  ap 
proached  haughtiness,  that  the  world  resented.  A 
certain  aloofness  of  manner  hedged  her  around  even 
in  the  midst  of  the  social  whirl,  and  though  in  con 
versation  the  lovely  eyes  appeared  to  meet  frankly 
those  confronting  hers,  people  were  vaguely  con 
scious  that  some  veil  was  rarely  lifted  from  their 
soft,  shining  depths. 

Sudden  congestion  in  the  line  of  equipages,  stretch 
ing  far  ahead,  had  caused  a  temporary  halt,  and  when 
the  knot  dissolved,  and  the  impatient  horses  sprang 
forward  once  more,  Eglah  said: 

"  I  thought  you  loved  good  music  too  well  to  lose 
last  night's  opera  treat,  and  until  the  final  act  I  ex 
pected  you." 

"  Shall  I  flatter  myself  that  even  in  the  midst  of  the 
select  party  occupying  my  box  you  really  missed 
me?" 

"  Certainly  I  missed  you — all  the  more  because 
some  of  them  chattered,  and  you  would  have  hushed 
the  tattle." 

"  Am  I  so  successful  in  the  role  of  ogre  as  to  over 
awe  my  guests  in  an  opera  box  ?  " 

"  Your  quiet  way  of  setting  an  example  of  good 
breeding  is  sometimes  contagious  among  thoughtless 
people." 

"  My  lucky  star  is  surely  ascending :  you  have  paid 


A    SPECKLED    BIRD  61 

me  two  compliments,  and  I  am  puzzled  to  know 
whether  I  shall  be  expected  to  balance  my  account  at 
ad  valorem  rates  on  the  basis  of  your  assessment  or 
mine?" 

"  Oh,  you  and  I  established  free  trade  long  ago,  and 
I  can  always  tell  you  the  truth  without  pausing  to 
weigh  words  as  do  legation  attaches,  and  as  father 
does  when  wily  lobbyists  intercept  him  on  his  way 
from  committee  rooms.  Mr.  Noel,  had  you  any 
special  reason  for  absenting  yourself?  The  lovely 
'lilac  orchids  were,  of  course,  far  more  ornamental  in 
your  empty  chair,  and  you  must  not  think  me  lacking 
in  appreciation  because  I  am  so  tardy  in  thanking  you 
for  them." 

"  An  unexpected  change  in  the  date  of  a  lecture 
given  by  one  of  my  friends  kept  me  away,  when  I  had 
hoped  to  join  you.  As  I  had  promised  to  attend, 
there  was  no  alternative  when  a  belated  note  informed 
me  that  last  night  had  been  selected  for  its  delivery." 

"  Tell  me  about  it." 

"  If  I  should  so  afflict  you,  most  certainly  you 
wrould  vote  me  a  bore,  or  fall  asleep  in  self-defence." 

"  When  you  say  that,  you  know  curiosity  always 
covets  the  forbidden." 

"  At  your  peril  then !  It  was  a  monograph  on  the 
autochthonic  origin  of  American  races,  and  by  way 
of  ornamentation  bristled  with  such  graceful  trifles 
as  cephalic  index,  br  achy  cephalic,  and  dolichocephalic, 
and  was  sprinkled  with  the  curry  of  Votanic  legends, 
and  choice  tid-bits  from  the  Quiche  Popol  Vuh  and 
from  Codex  Chimalpopoco !  Sounds  spicy,  doesn't  it? 
Piques  your  appetite  for  a  larger  slice?  " 

"  No,  thank  you.  Yet  you  preferred  that  tire 
some  jargon  to  listening  to  a  superb  tenor  solo?  " 


62  A    SPECKLED   BIRD 

"  In  a  way — yes.  We  all  ride  hobby-horses  from 
the  nursery  to  the  cemetery,  and  it  is  merely  a  ques 
tion  of  individual  taste  what  blood  strain  or  pedigree 
we  choose.  My  racing  stable  is  not  so  generously 
supplied  as  yours,  which  embraces  colts  of  various 
breeds:  reports  of  fisheries  commissions,  bounties, 
American  tonnage  from  18 —  to  18 — ,and  a  vast " 

"  Sarcasm  does  not  fit  you  becomingly,  Mr.  Noel ; 
it  hangs  askew,  like  a  clown's  cap  on  a  cowl.  What 
have  you  registered  your  own  special  toy,  that  you 
canter  so  vigorously  around  the  world?  Is  it  called 
ethnology,  or  totemism,  or  anthropology?" 

"  When  I  have  finished  trying  all  its  gaits,  and  find 
the  sum  total  satisfactory,  I  shall  label  it,  and  fit  a 
comfortable  side  saddle  and  introduce  you  formally. 
Now,  Miss  Kent,  come  to  confession.  Did  you  see 
the  list  of  passengers  who  arrived  on  yesterday's 
steamer  from  Liverpool  ?  " 

"  I  did  not." 

"  Can  you  recollect  a  certain  prophecy  I  made  at 
Cowes,  anent  a  handsome  naval  officer  who  enter 
tained  us  at  luncheon  on  his  father's  yacht  ?  " 

"  Cassandra  was  a  woman,  and  men  should  not 
trespass  on  the  one  feminine  right  of  '  I  told  you  so,' 
that  has  descended  to  us  intact  from  Hecuba's  daugh 
ter.  But,  Mr.  Noel,  if  you  mean " 

She  turned  and  looked  up  into  his  eyes. 

"  Yes,  I  met  him  this  morning  at  the  club,  where 
Ogden  introduced  him,  and  I  saved  him  a  useless 
journey  to  Washington  by  telling  him  you  were  here 
for  a  few  days." 

"  I  can  only  say  I  am  sorry  to  hear  it." 

"  While  he  is  in  New  York  I  must,  in  part,  return 
the  hospitality  shown  us,  and  your  father  will  pay  the 


A    SPECKLED    BIRD  63 

remainder  of  the  debt  in  Washington.  I  have  ar 
ranged  a  dinner  for  this  evening,  and  later  we  shall 
see  *  Hamlet,'  then  a  supper  afterward  at  Delmonico's. 
Will  you  join  us  at  the  theatre,  if  I  call  for  you, 
bringing  Mrs.  St.  Clair  as  chaperon?  " 

"  Thank  you,  I  much  prefer  not  to  be  one  of  the 
party;  besides,  I  have  a  previous  engagement.  I  am 
going  with  my  cousin,  Vernon  Temple,  to  a  meeting 
of  shop  girls,  a  sort  of  night  school  established  by 
some  of  his  lady  friends." 

"  What  class  does  he  teach?  " 

"  I  believe  he  '  talks '  now  and  then  on  '  feminine 
arts/  and  to-night  there  will  be  a  lecture  on  lace  mak 
ing  and  tapestry  guilds,  illustrated  of  course  by  a 
sketch  of  the  inevitable  Matilda  and  the  indestructible] 
'  Bayeux.'  I  am  trying  to  classify  this  new  cousin,! 
who  seems  to  me  a  queer  blend  of  mediaeval  monk, 
pre-Raphaelite  reformer,  and  socialist.  He  is  alto 
gether  unlike  any  one  I  ever  knew,  but  his  beautiful, 
sad  face  reminds  me  of  a  picture  I  saw  in  Munich — a 
young  priest  administering  the  viaticum  to  his  dying 
sweetheart,  whom  he  forsook  for  holy  orders." 

Lowering  his  eyelids,  Mr.  Herriott  glanced  keenly 
1   at  her. 

'*  You  find  Temple  wonderfully  magnetic  at 
times?" 

"  Scarcely  that.  '  Magnetic  '  implies  so  much  and 
really  explains  so  little.  When  I  see  his  ceaseless 
struggle  to  keep  the  heel  of  his  spirit  on  the  neck 
of  his  flesh,  it  suggests  a  fanatical  rebellion  against 
that  equipoise  God  saw  fit  to  establish.  Like  Joubert, 
'  he  seems  to  be  a  soul  that  by  accident  met  with  a 
body,  and  tries  to  make  the  best  of  it.'  My  cousin 
Temple  is  fond  of  you." 


64  A    SPECKLED   BIRD 

"  Despite  much  difference  of  opinion  on  many 
questions,  our  friendship  has  survived  the  '  storm  and 
stress '  period,  and  I  honor  a  man  whose  battle  cry 
for  humanity  is : 

"  '  Make  trade  a  Christian  possibility, 
And  individual  right  no  general  wrong/ 

Have  you  noticed  the  expression  of  Mrs.  Mitchell's 
face  when  they  happen  to  meet?  " 

"  Haven't  I !  It  is  too  funny  to  see  her  narrow 
her  eyes  and  look  at  him  as  if  he  were  some  unclassi 
fied  beast  whose  method  of  pouncing  on  his  prey  had 
not  yet  been  warningly  advertised.  She  is  convinced 
he  is  an  ecclesiastical  infernal  machine  trying  to 
wreck  our  family  orthodoxy.  I  asked  him " 

She  stopped  suddenly  at  sight  of  two  gentlemen 
approaching  on  horseback,  and  Mr.  Herriott  smiled, 
as  he  whispered : 

"  Lo !  the  second  son  of  a  duke !  " 


CHAPTER   VII 

In  a  quiet  and  unfrequented  cross  street — equally 
remote  from  the  thronged  thoroughfares  of  trade  and 
from  fashionable  avenues  lined  with  palaces — stood 
the  low  and  unpretentious  Chapel  of  St.  Hyacinth, 
marked  by  neither  spire  nor  belfry.  The  old  stone 
front  receded  sufficiently  from  the  pavement  to  per 
mit  a  short  flight  of  shallow  steps  that  led  to  an 
arched  door  in  a  pillared  portico  with  a  cross  on  its 
pointed  roof,  which  hung  over  the  entrance  like  a 
sullen,  frowning  brow.  A  northeast  wind  came  fit 
fully  in  hissing  blasts,  dashed  with  fine  sleet;  but 
when  Eglah  passed  through  the  swinging  inner  door 
a  warm  atmosphere  spiced  with  resinous  incense  in 
folded  her  as  in  a  fragrant  mist,  through  which  glim 
mered  brass  lattice  screens,  rows  of  tall  candles,  the 
gilded  carving  of  the  white  altar,  laden  with  lilies, 
and  the  marble  statue  of  the  Virgin,  at  whose  snowy 
feet  a  red  light  burned  in  a  silver  lamp.  On  each 
side  of  the  wall  below  the  brass  lattice  that  barred 
the  chancel  was  a  "  confessional "  of  dark  wood  sur 
mounted  by  a  cross,  and  the  clustered  lights  in  the 
centre  of  the  concave  ceiling  formed  a  crown. 

On  the  right  and  left  of  the  altar  the  white  surpliced 
choristers  filled  several  seats,  and  the  quivering  thun 
der  of  the  organ  ceased  suddenly,  as  if  to  listen  to  the 
marvellous  voice  of  the  boy  soloist,  that  swelled  and 
rose  as  if  the  singer  felt  himself  "  hard  by  the  gates 
of  heaven."  A  slender  child  of  ten  years,  grasping 
5 


66  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

his  music  with  waxen  hands  almost  infantile  in  size, 
while  his  head,  covered  thickly  with  shining  ripples  of 
golden  hair,  was  thrown  back,  and  his  blue  eyes  al 
most  purplish,  like  a  periwinkle,  were  raised  in  con 
templation  of  the  crown  glowing  above  him.  The 
colorless  face  was  delicate  and  beautiful  as  if  wrought 
out  of  ivory,  and  a  certain  pathetic  sadness  of  expres 
sion  inherent  in  fragile  childhood  was  for  the  moment 
dominated  by  the  radiant  exultation  of  his  wonderful 
eyes,  that  seemed  made  to  dwell  between  the  wings 
of  a  seraph. 

Father  Temple  left  the  altar  before  which  he  had 
knelt  in  prayer,  and  advancing  to  the  steps  of  the 
chancel,  stood  with  one  hand  on  the  brass  railing 
and  briefly  explained  his  unexpected  presence.  A 
telegram  had  summoned  the  rector  of  St.  Hyacinth's 
to  the  deathbed  of  his  father,  and  the  request  to  of 
ficiate  in  his  absence  had  been  received  too  late  to 
permit  the  preparation  of  a  regular  sermon;  hence 
the  patient  indulgence  of  the  congregation  was  in 
voked  for  some  desultory  remarks  which  might  not 
prove  entirely  fruitless.  After  a  few  exordial  sen 
tences,  he  repeated  slowly  the  opening  ten  verses 
from  St.  John  xv.,  and  waited  a  moment. 

"  For  text  let  us  consider :  '  "  I  am  the  true  vine," 
said  our  Lord,  "  and  ye,  my  brethren,  are  the 
branches."  ' 

Then  followed  a  recitative  of  various  selected  pas 
sages  from  the  "  Sermon  in  the  Hospital,"  in  tones  so 
musical  and  liquid,  and  with  a  repose  of  manner  so 
profound,  yet  full  of  subtle  magnetism,  that  his  au 
dience  gazed  in  sympathetic  wonder  at  the  slight  fig 
ure  clad  in  the  sombre  habit  of  his  order — at  the  thin, 
pallid  spiritual  face  where  large,  deep-set  black  eyes 


A    SPECKLED    BIRD  67 

burned  with  the  preternatural  light  of  consecrated 
but  consuming  zeal.  The  folded  arms  attempted 
no  gestures — what  need,  while  that  rhythmic  wave  of 
sound  flowed  on? — until  the  end,  when  the  clasped 
hands  were  lifted  in  final  appeal : 

"...     the  Cross  of  Christ 
Is  more  to  us  than  all  His  miracles. 

Thou  wilt  not  see  the  face  nor  feel  the  hand, 
Only  the  cruel  crushing  of  the  feet 
When  through  the  bitter  night  the  Lord  comes  down 
To  tread  the  winepress.     Not  by  sight,  but  faith, 
Endure,  endure — be  faithful  to  the  end." 

Unconscious  of  his  movement,  and  irresistibly 
drawn,  the  young  soloist  sitting  in  the  front  row  of 
choristers  had  risen,  and  leaning  far  forward,  looked 
up  into  the  face  of  the  priest,  like  one  mesmerized, 
his  parted  lips  trembling  in  a  passion  of  ecstasy. 
Then  the  organ  boomed,  and  the  boy  fell  from  para 
dise  and  joined  the  choristers  chanting  as  they 
marched  away  behind  the  uplifted  cross. 

A  lady  stepped  into  the  aisle  and  touched  Eglah's 
arm. 

"  So  glad  to  see  you  here,  Miss  Kent.  Shall  al 
ways  welcome  you  to  my  pew.  What  a  delightful 
elocutionary  tour  de  force  Father  Temple  gave  us! 
He  would  make  a  fortune  on  the  stage  of  secular 
drama." 

'  Yes.  Fra  Ugo  himself  could  scarcely  have  been 
more  impressive  when  he  talked  to  the  sick  and  dying 
on  hospital  cots.  To  my  cousin  Vernon  this  world 
is  only  a  hospital  of  sick  souls.  Mrs.  St.  Clair,  I 


68  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

should  like  to  meet  that  little  boy  who  sang  so  beauti 
fully.  Can  you  help  me?" 

"  Very  easily.  Come  back  with  me  now  to  the 
vestry  and  we  may  find  him.  Did  you  notice  how 
that  lovely  boy  seemed  almost  hypnotized  ?  " 

Only  two  of  the  larger  choristers  lingered,  chatting 
with  the  choirmaster,  and  as  they  turned  toward  the 
rear  stairway  leading  to  the  street,  Mrs.  St.  Clair 
exclaimed : 

"  Mr.  De  Graffenried,  stop  the  boys.  We  want  to 
see  the  soloist.  Call  him  back." 

"  Madam,  I  think  he  is  still  in  the  chancel." 

Lifting  the  velvet  curtain  that  concealed  the  altar 
from  their  view,  she  beckoned  Eglah  to  her  side. 

Father  Temple  had  been  detained  by  one  of  the 
church-wardens,  and  as  he  turned  to  hasten  away  the 
boy,  standing  near,  caught  the  black  skirt  of  the  priest. 

"  Please,  sir,  may  I  speak  to  you  ?  " 

"  Certainly.  I  am  glad  to  be  able  to  thank  you 
for  the  music  to-day.  Your  solo  gave  me  great 
pleasure." 

"  I  could  have  done  better,  but  my  throat  is  sore ; 
it  bled  just  now.  I  told  nobody,  because  I  am  the 
only  one  who  can  reach  that  high  C,  and  so  I  tried 
not  to  fail.  I  want  to  ask  you  how  I  can  learn  all 
the  words  you  spoke?  Oh,  if  I  could,  I  would  set 
them  to  a  chant ;  they  would  lift  my  heart  out  of  me 
if  I  could  sing  them." 

"  You  shall  have  them.     What  is  your  name  ?  " 

"Leighton  Dane." 

Father  Temple  took  his  tablets  from  an  inside 
pocket  and  made  an  entry. 

"  Where  do  you  live?" 

"  Oh,  a  long  way  off.      Far  down  in  East  


A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

Street ;  but,  please  sir,  if  you  would  leave  the  poetry 
here,  I  could  get  it  at  next  rehearsal." 

"My  little  man,  how  do  you  know  it  is  poetry? 
The  words  do  not  rhyme." 

"  Rhyme?  I  do  not  understand  that  word — but  I 
feel  poetry.  I  always  know  it  by  the  way  my  blood 
beats,  and  the  little  shiver  that  runs  down  my  back, 
and  the  joy  that  makes  me  cry  sometimes." 

"  I  will  send  you  a  printed  copy,  in  care  of  the 
rector.  Dear  child,  God  has  given  you  a  wonderfully 
sweet  voice,  and  I  am  glad  you  use  it  in  His  service." 

He  laid  his  thin  hand  on  the  boy's  golden  head,  and 
smiled  down  into  the  wistful  blue  eyes,  where  tears 
glistened. 

The  childish  fingers,  holding  two  snowy  spikes  of 
Roman  hyacinth,  were  lifted  and  placed  on  the 
priest's  hand,  pressing  it  timidly  against  his  curls. 

"  Thank  you,  sir.  Please  take  these.  They  smell 
like  the  heavenly  gardens,  and  I  have  nothing  else  to 
give." 

"  Were  they  not  on  the  altar?  " 

"  Yes,  I  slipped  out  two  from  the  cluster  there." 

"  Then  they  belong  to  God.  By  what  right  do  you 
touch  sacred  gifts  brought  to  Him  ?  " 

"  They  were  mine.  I  bought  them  last  night  and 
laid  them  yonder  when  I  came  to-day — and  God  can 
spare  just  two,  when  I  have  nothing  else  to  pay  you 
with.  Did  you — oh !  did  you  think  I — stole — them  ?  " 
A  sob  shook  him,  and  tears  followed. 

Father  Temple  stooped  and  drew  the  little  white- 
robed  form  to  him,  pressing  the  head  against  his 
breast. 

"  Forgive  me,  I  did  not  quite  understand ;  and  I  am 
sure  the  dear  Father  knows  what  is  in  your  grateful 


70  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

heart.  God  bless  you  and  keep  you.  I  shall  put  the 
hyacinths  between  the  leaves  of  my  Bible." 

Eglah  stretched  an  arm  across  Mrs.  St.  Clair's 
shoulder  and  dropped  the  curtain. 

"  Come  away.  Some  other  time  I  may  talk  to  him, 
not  now." 

The  following  day  Eglah  returned  to  Washington, 
and  two  hours  before  the  departure  of  the  train  she 
drove  to  Twenty-third  Street,  where  she  and  Mrs. 
Mitchell  usually  made  their  purchases  of  damask,  rib 
bon,  and  lace.  While  the  latter  bent  over  boxes  of 
wools  and  crochet  cottons,  Eglah  seated  herself  at 
the  handkerchief  counter.  When  she  had  selected 
the  desired  number,  the  saleswoman  filled  out  her 
index  sheet  and  rapped  sharply  with  her  pencil. 

"Cash!     Here,  cash!" 

Several  minutes  elapsed. 

"  These  cash  boys  are  so  tiresome.  Cash,  cash ! 
I  had  to  report  one  last  week.  Cash — here  he  comes 
at  last.  Now,  do  hurry  up;  you  are  a  regular  snail." 

In  the  boy  who  hastened  away  Eglah  recognized 
the  soloist  of  St.  Hyacinth's,  and  noticed  a  bandage 
around  his  throat.  When  he  came  back  with  the 
parcel  and  counted  the  change  into  the  palm  of  the 
saleswoman,  Eglah  touched  his  arm. 

"  I  heard  you  sing  yesterday,  and  want  to  tell  you 
how  much  I  liked  your  voice." 

"  Thank  you,  ma'am,  I " 

A  spell  of  coughing  interrupted,  and  she  noticed 
how  wan  and  weary  he  looked,  and  how  heavy  were 
the  greyish  shadows  under  his  lovely  eyes. 

"  I  am  afraid  you  are  not  well  to-day.  Are  you 
an  orphan  ?  " 


A    SPECKLED    BIRD  71 

"  Oh,  no.  Mother  is  living,  and  she  says  a  mother 
-  is  worth  forty  fathers." 

"  Will  you  tell  me  her  name,  and  where  she  lives?  " 

"  Mrs.  Nona  Dane,  and  she  has  the  glove  counter 
at ,  Fourteenth  Street." 

At  this  instant  the  floor-walker  strode  forward,  and 
a  frightened  expression  crossed  the  boy's  white  face 
as  he  turned  quickly,  but  Eglah  laid  a  detaining  hand 
on  his  head  as,  rising,  she  confronted  the  floor-walker. 

"  If  he  loitered  it  is  not  his  fault ;  I  kept  him.  If 
he  missed  a  call  I  am  to  blame.  Good-bye,  Leighton ; 
shake  hands.  When  I  come  back  to  New  York  I 
hope  to  hear  you  sing  again  at  St.  Hyacinth's ;  and  if 
I  miss  you  here,  I  shall  buy  elsewhere." 

His  hot  fingers  quivered  in  her  clasp,  and,  pressing 
a  folded  bill  into  his  hand,  she  joined  her  foster- 
mother  and  left  the  store. 

"  What  a  frail,  beautiful  boy,  and  what  genuine 
golden  hair !  Looks  as  if  it  had  been  dipped  in  a  pot 
of  gilt.  Dearie,  don't  you  think  it  a  shame  these 
young  children  are  chained  up  in  stores  when  they 
ought  to  be  romping  and  playing  ball?  " 

As  their  carriage  turned  from  Twenty-third  Street 
toward  Broadway,  that  always  crowded  angle  was 
even  more  than  usually  thronged,  and  during  the 
brief  pause  Mr.  Herriott  came  out  of  Maillard's  with 
a  box  of  bon-bons. 

"  I  am  just  going  to  the  ferry  to  wait  for  you.  Are 
you  not  too  early,  or  has  my  watch  gone  astray?  " 

"  Come  with  us,  Mr.  Noel,  we  have  ample  room. 
Yes,  it  is  early;  but  of  course  at  the  last  minute  I 
must  needs  shop  on  the  way." 

As  he  seated  himself  in  the  carriage  he  handed  a 
package  to  Eglah. 


72  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

"  The  latest  Paris  '  Revue/  and  your  favorite 
marron  glace  and  chocolate." 

"  Thank  you  heartily,  for  both.  I  wonder  if  I  ever 
shall  cease  to  be  a  spoiled  child — in  your  eyes  ?  " 

"  Whatever  you  may  be  in  my  eyes,  you  certainly 
will  always  remain." 

"  How  discouraging,  that  you  should  feel  quite 
hopeless  of  any  improvement  in  me.  Driver,  I  wish 

to  stop  in  West  Fourteenth  Street,  at .  Gloves, 

Mr.  Noel,  always  gloves." 

"  Will  you  bet  a  pair  of  best  driving  gauntlets  that 
I  cannot  tell  you  exactly  why  you  go  there  to-day?  " 

"  Certainly ;  silk-lined,  fur-tipped  gauntlets.  I  told 
you  my  errand  was  gloves ;  pray  what  other  reason?  " 

1  You  are  going  to  get  a  glimpse  of '  Juno/  ' 

''  Juno  ?  Nearly  everything  comes  to  New  York 
sooner  or  later,  but  really  I  never  imagined  she  could 
step  out  from  the  books  of  mythology.  I  hunt  no 
goddess.  When  you  pay  your  wager,  be  sure  to 
select  delicate  fawn  color,  that  will  match  my  spring 
jacket." 

"  The  debt  is  yours.  Confess,  Eglah — honor  bright 
— you  are  curious  about  the  woman  who  sells  gloves 
in  Fourteenth  Street." 

"  I  will  present  to  you  a  witch's  skirt,  cap,  and 
broomstick.  But  why  '  Juno  '  ?  " 

"  The  matter  was  thrashed  out  at  the  club  last 
week,  where  Vandiver  told  us  some  artist  had  com 
pared  her  to  a  print  of  the  Ludovisi  Juno  hanging 
in  Goupil's  window.  Hence  her  elevation  to  Olym 
pus/' 

"  Then  you  know  all  about  her?  " 

"  On  the  contrary,  I  never  saw  her ;  but  she  seems 
to  be  the  magnet  drawing  people  to just  now." 


A    SPECKLED    BIRD  73 

The  carriage  stopped,  and  Eglah  walked  into  the 
department  store. 

"  Come  in,  Mr.  Noel,  and  pick  out  your  gauntlets." 

"  Not  to-day.  Juno  indulged  in  tricks  that  made 
even  Jupiter  keep  one  eye  on  her  wiles,  and  I  shall 
merely  admire  at  a  safe  distance. " 

In  front  of  the  glove  counter  half  a  dozen  women 
clustered,  and  on  the  outside  of  the  group  three  men 
lounged — one  evidently  a  foreigner,  with  bushy 
beard,  coarse,  hairy  hands,  and  furtive  eyes,  small 
even  behind  very  large  spectacles.  Among  several 
busy  saleswomen  it  was  easy  to  discover  the  centre 
of  attraction — a  finely  developed  form,  tall  and  grace 
ful  in  every  movement,  and  a  face  of  surpassing 
beauty,  lighted  by  dark  violet  eyes,  flushed  with  the 
glow  of  perfect  health,  and  crowned  by  a  braided  mass 
of  glittering  yellow  hair  heaped  high  on  a  shapely 
head,  that  held  it  as  an  empress  wears  her  tiara.  In 
its  vivid  coloring  the  face  suggested  a  tropical  flower, 
but,  looking  closer,  one  thought  of  a  frozen  tulip 
under  a  sheet  of  ice,  so  hard  was  the  cold  gleam  of 
the  defiant  eyes  and  the  proud  compression  of  red  lips 
that  had  forgotten  how  to  smile,  that  seemed  never 
to  have  known  curves  of  tenderness.  While  Eglah 
waited,  the  foreigner  leaned  across  the  counter. 

"  Some  black  silk  gloves.  Number  eight  and  a 
half." 

"  In  the  next  room.     Men's  department." 

"  You  got  the  papers  for  the  league?  " 

"  Yes,  that  is  all  arranged.  Meeting  will  be  at  ten 
o'clock  to-night.  You  can't  talk  here." 

He  touched  the  rim  of  his  hat  and  walked  away, 
and  she  looked  toward  Eglah. 

"  Grey  kid  gloves,  stitched  with  white  silk." 


74  A    UPtiCKLED    BIRD 

"What  size?" 

"  Five  and  a  quarter." 

The  voice  had  a  sharp  metallic  ring,  with  an  im 
patient  inflection,  and  as  she  turned,  lifting  her  arms 
to  a  box  on  an  upper  shelf,  all  the  lovely  outlines  of 
her  figure  were  shown  most  advantageously,  and 
Eglah  glanced  over  her  shoulder  at  Mr.  Herriott. 
He  was  watching  the  woman  behind  the  counter  with 
an  intensely  curious  expression,  as  though  disagree 
ably  perplexed.  She  found  the  desired  number. 

"Shall  I  stretch  them?" 

"  No,  it  is  not  necessary." 

"  Do  you  wish  them  fitted  on  your  hands?  " 

"  I  will  not  give  you  that  trouble.  What  is  the 
price?" 

"  It  is  part  of  my  business  to  fit  them.  Two  dol 
lars  and  a  quarter.  Here,  cash !  " 

Eglah's  desire  to  mention  the  chorister  of  St.  Hya 
cinth's  was  quickly  extinguished  by  the  pronouncedly 
repellent  bearing  that  plainly  proclaimed  all  inter 
course  must  be  restricted  to  the  business  of  the  coun 
ter,  and  as  she  returned  to  the  carriage,  Mr.  Herriott 
said: 

"  Well,  you  college  girls  are  nothing  if  not  se 
verely  classical,  so  I  presume  you  will  offer  a  ewe 
lamb,  all  garlanded  with  willow  and  dittany,  and 
prinked  out  in  pomegranate  blossoms,  on  the  Juno- 
nian  altar." 

"  I  am  glad  Jove  tied  her  hands  and  hung  her  up 
above  the  earth  and  below  the  heavens,  with  anvils 
on  her  ankles,  where  she  could  do  no  more  mischief. 
That  goddess  of  yours  has  the  most  cruelly  cold,  hard 
face  I  ever  looked  at,  and  yet — in  a  way — so  beauti 
ful.  Evidently  she  has  not  even  the  shadow  of  a  soul 


A    SPECKLED   BIRD  75 

— must  have  given  it  all  to  that  angelic  boy?  What 
is  her  history?  Of  course  she  has  one." 

"  It  has  been  said  happy  women  have  none,  and 
in  this  case  adversity  must  have  curdled  very  early 
the  stream  of  her  youthful  joys.  Vandiver  investi 
gated  her — from  a  distance  he  says,  as  she  froze  him 
when  he  attempted  acquaintanceship.  He  has  a  pro 
tege  in  the  constabulary  who  learned  through  police 
channels  all  that  she  will  allow  to  be  known  of  her 
life.  Some  years  ago  she  drifted  here  from  the  far 
West — part  of  the  human  flotsam  annually  stranded 
in  this  city,  and  she  found  work  in  a  cloak  manu 
factory.  Later  she  incited  a  strike  among  the 
cloak  cutters,  which  resulted  disastrously  for  the 
workers,  and  when  all  the  strikers  submitted,  she 
alone  was  refused  re-employment,  and  doors  were 
closed  against  her.  She  secured  a  position  in  a  large 
bric-a-brac  establishment,  but  when  a  valuable  an 
tique  vase  disappeared,  she  was  suspected  and  ar 
rested.  While  in  prison  a  day  and  night  awaiting 
trial,  the  vase  was  found  in  a  pawnbroker's  shop,  and 
the  colored  porter  of  the  bric-a-brac  dealer  acknowl 
edged  the  theft.  The  firm  very  honorably  made 
ample  public  retraction  of  the  unjust  charge,  and 
endeavored  to  compensate  and  appease  the  injured 
woman,  but  she  shook  the  dust  of  the  house  from  her 
feet  and  betook  herself  to  Brooklyn.  Recently  she 
accepted  her  present  place." 

"  Do  you  mean  to  imply  that  she  is — is — Bohe 
mian?" 

"  That  depends  upon  your  interpretation  of  a  very 
flexible  term.  I  am  told  she  conducts  herself  with 
strict  propriety,  reports  Mr.  Dane  dead,  and  receives 
attentions  from  no  one;  but  she  is  avowedly  a  so- 


76  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

cialist  of  the  extreme  type :  belongs  to  labor  organiza 
tions,  attends  their  meetings,  makes  impassioned  ad 
dresses,  and,  in  fine,  is  a  female  Ishmael  whose  hands 
are  much  too  pretty  for  such  savage  work.  Did  you 
notice  an  odd-looking,  shambling  man  with  prepos 
terous  spectacles  who  spoke  to  her?  He  is  an  agent 
of  a  band  of  Russian  Nihilists  seeking  aid  from  sym 
pathizers  here.  She  is  reported  as  possessing  some 
education,  advocates  '  single-tax '  and  all  the  com 
munistic  vagaries  that  appeal  to  the  great  mass  of 
m  toiling  poor,  the  discontented  and  morose,  as  colored 
balloons  captivate  the  fancy  of  children  at  a  circus 
door.  She  frequents  a  hall  down  on  the  East  Side, 
|  where  at  night  the  clans  of  the  disgruntled  assemble, 
!  and  long-haired  men  and  short-haired  women — who 
i  J  absolutely  believe  that  the  only  real  '  devil  is  private 
property  ' — denounce  wealth  and  preach  their  gospel 
of  covetousness.  Here  we  are  at  the  ferry,  and  just 
in  time  to  meet  the  boat." 


CHAPTER   VIII 

Distinctly  a  poseur,  Senator  Kent  had  studied  his 
physical  good  points  with  sufficient  attention  to  es 
tablish  the  habit  of  exhibiting  them  advantageously, 
and  to-night,  as  he  leaned  back  in  his  easy  chair,  per 
sons  who  knew  him  well  understood  that  the  fine 
leonine  head  was  always  turned  adroitly  to  the  right 
because  a  defect  in  one  drooping  eyelid  found  semi- 
concealment  in  the  shadow  of  nose  and  brow.  Politi 
cal  and  financial  prosperity  had  prevented  or  erased 
the  lines  that  usually  mark  countenances  of  men  of 
his  age,  and  his  smooth,  handsome  smiling  face 
seemed  to  defy  and  rebut  the  testimony  offered  by 
grey  hair  and  white  mustache. 

Suave  and  conciliatory,  tactful  yet  tenacious  of 
purpose,  a  carefully  cultivated  air  of  frankness  am 
bushed  subtle  craftiness  that  rarely  failed  to  accom 
plish  schemes  which  the  unwary  never  suspected. 
Unhampered  by  scruples,  he  had  scaled  the  heights 
of  success,  climbing  the  ladder  of  cautious  expedi 
ency,  and  claiming  allegiance  only  to  principles  and 
policies  that  beckoned  from  the  rung  just  above  his 
head.  Proverbial  good  nature,  voiced  by  a  musical, 
hearty  laugh,  won  him  social  popularity,  and  even  in 
congressional  debate  he  never  laid  aside  the  polished 
armor  of  imperturbable  courtesy.  Despite  the  keen 
scrutiny  of  Eliza  Mitchell  during  many  years  of  in 
timate  association,  his  character  had  remained  a  baf 
fling  enigma,  and  her  suspicious  distrust  was  allayed, 


78  A    SPECKLED   BIRD 

in  some  degree,  by  his  genial  equanimity  and  amiable 
abdication  of  control  in  domestic  details.  That  he 
wore  a  mask  she  had  always  believed,  yet  it  fitted  so 
perfectly  she  could  not  penetrate  the  steel  mesh,  and 
in  no  unguarded  moment  had  its  springs  loosened. 

The  luxuriously  furnished  library  was  bright  and 
warm  with  fire  glow  and  gas  light,  and  sweet  with 
the  breath  of  white  azaleas  heaped  in  a  pale-pink  bowl 
on  the  low  mantel  shelf.  Only  the  click  of  the  type 
writer  disturbed  the  stillness  until  Eglah  rose  from 
the  instrument,  covered  it,  and  numbered  the  written 
pages,  arranging  them  in  a  sheaf. 

"  All  ready  now,  father,  and  Mr.  Metcalf  can  in 
corporate  these  tables  in  the  report  you  will  need 
to-morrow.  Do  you  wish  to  verify  the  figures  ?  " 

"  Not  necessary,  my  dear.  You  are  usually  ac 
curate." 

"  Thanks  for  the  sugar  plum.  You  know  exactly 
how  sweet  is  your  praise." 

Coming  forward,  she  sat  down  on  the  carpeted 
foot-board  attached  to  his  reclining  chair,  leaned  her 
head  against  his  knee,  and  stretched  her  fingers  to 
ward  the  fire.  He  laid  one  large  dimpled  hand  on 
her  shoulder,  and  she  turned  her  cheek  to  touch  it. 
After  the  lapse  of  some  minutes  the  clock  struck,  and 
Eglah  sprang  up. 

"  Barely  time  to  dress  for  the  Secretary's  dinner ! 
Has  the  carriage  been  ordered?" 

'  Yes.  I  can  doze  a  while  longer,  as  I  have  to 
change  only  my  coat,  vest,  and  tie." 

"  Eglah,  do  you  need  my  help  in  dressing,  or  will 
Octavia  suit  you  best  ?  "  asked  Mrs.  Mitchell,  who  sat 
at  a  small  table  near  the  hearth,  matching  silk  squares 
for  an  afghan. 


A    SPECKLED    BIRD  79 

'  You  can  revise  me  finally,  and  punctuate  me  with 
additional  pins  when  I  come  down.  Don't  let  father 
oversleep  himself." 

Senator  Kent  straightened  the  folds  of  his  padded 
dressing-gown,  and  through  half-closed  eyes  watched 
the  small  hands  hovering  over  silken  scraps,  and  won 
dered,  as  he  had  often  done  before,  what  manner  of 
man  could  have  been  the  "  overseer  "  husband  for 
whom  this  grave,  pretty,  reticent,  demure  widow 
still  mourned  in  black  garments,  relieved  only  by 
narrow  white  ruches  at  her  throat  and  wrists. 

The  clock  ticked  softly,  and  the  senator  seemed 
asleep,  when  the  ringing  of  the  door  bell  roused  him. 
Some  moments  passed  before  the  library  door  opened 
and  a  servant  entered. 

"  A  note,  sir.  It  was  laid  on  top  of  the  bell  knob, 
and  the  messenger  did  not  wait,  for  I  looked  up  and 
down  the  street." 

"  Evidently  of  no  importance,  else  the  delivery 
would  not  have  been  so  careless." 

He  lazily  took  an  envelope  from  the  silver  salver 
and  held  it  up. 

"  Senator  Allison  Kent, 

Washington,  D.  C. 

"  Strictly  Personal." 

Both  the  address  and  contents  were  type-written. 

Intent  on  her  patchwork,  Eliza  was  bending  over 
a  mass  of  scarlet  satin  ribbon,  when  a  strange  sound 
startled  her:  not  a  cry,  nor  yet  a  groan — an  anoma 
lous  smothered  utterance  of  pain,  as  from  a  strong 
animal  sorely  stricken. 


80  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

He  had  struggled  to  his  feet,  and  the  large,  heavy 
body  swayed  twice,  then  righted  itself,  and  he  stood 
staring  blankly  at  the  red  lily  dado  on  the  opposite 
wall,  as  though  their  crimson  petals  spelled  some 
such  message  as  foreshadowed  doom  to  Babylon. 
One  hand  crushed  the  letter  into  an  inside  pocket  of 
the  dressing-gown,  the  other  clutched  his  mustache, 
twisting  it  into  knots. 

The  swift,  inexplicable  change  of  countenance 
could  be  compared  only  with  the  startled  alertness 
of  a  drowsing  fox  when  his  dim,  snug  covert  echoes 
the  first  far-off  blast  of  the  coming  hunter's  horn. 
In  every  life  some  alluring  vision  of  Arden  beckons 
and  beguiles,  and  to  this  successful  man,  basking  in 
the  golden  glamor  of  a  satisfying  attainment  of  his 
aim,  came  suddenly  an  ominous  baying  of  the  blood 
hounds  of  retributive  destiny. 

"  You  have  bad  news,  Judge  Kent  ?  " 

He  made  no  answer,  and  she  seized  his  arm. 

"  What  is  the  dreadful  news  that  distresses  you?  9) 

As  he  turned  his  eyes  upon  her,  all  their  light  and 
color  seemed  faded  to  a  dull  glassiness,  and  his  voice 
shook  like  a  hysterical  woman's. 

"  News — did  you  say?  No — I  have  received  no 
news.  None  whatever." 

"  Then  what  ails  you  ?     I  shall  call  Eglah." 

She  turned,  but  he  clutched  her  skirt. 

"  For  God's  sake,  don't  ever  tell  her !  Why  grieve 
the  child?  The  truth  is — "  He  caught  his  breath, 
and  a  sickly  smile  showed  how  his  mouth  trembled, 
as  he  swept  his  hand  across  his  brow. 

"You  are  sick?" 

"  Oh,  yes— sick ;  that  is  it  exactly.     Sick — sick  in- 


A    SPECKLED    BIRD  81 

deed.  Some  oysters  I  ate,  and  cheese;  later  I  very 
foolishly  drank  ale." 

"  Then,  sir,  you  must  go  to  bed,  and  Eglah  will 
send  an  explanation  of  your  unavoidable  absence 
from  the  dinner." 

Upstairs  a  door  was  opened,  and  a  sweet,  girlish 
voice  trilled  two  bars  of  a  Venetian  barcarolle. 

Judge  Kent  threw  out  his  arms  appealingly. 

"  I  must  go  to-night.  For  God's  sake,  don't  let  her 
know  anything !  Say  nothing.  I  shall  tell  her  I  was 
a  little  faint  from  indigestion.  Vile  compound — 
oysters,  ale,  Roquefort!  Promise  me  to  hold  your 
tongue ;  not  for  my  sake,  but  hers.  I  am  obliged  to 
attend  this  dinner,  and  it  would  spoil  her  evening  if 
she  knew  how  deadly  sick — I — really  was  a  moment 
ago.  Promise  me." 

"  Very  well.  I  suppose  you  know  best  what  con 
cerns  you  most.  I  promise." 

"  You  are  the  only  woman  I  ever  knew  upon  whom 
I  could  rely  to  hold  her  tongue.  Now,  quick  as  you 
can,  bring  the  decanter  of  brandy  to  my  room. 
Amuse  the  child  with  her  frills  and  finery  while  I 
dress.  I  must  have  a  little  time." 

When  she  carried  the  brandy  to  his  door,  the  hand 
that  grasped  it  was  icy,  and  the  other  tugged  inef 
fectually  at  his  white  tie. 

Humming  her  boat-song,  Eglah  trailed  silken 
draperies  down  the  winding  stairs  and  into  the  li 
brary,  where  she  courtesied  low  to  Eliza  and  swept 
her  train — like  a  peacock's  plumes — up  to  the  grate, 
putting  one  slippered  foot  on  the  brass  fender. 

She  was  gowned  in  green  crepe  of  an  uncommon 
tint,  that  held  multitudinous  silvery  lights  in  its 
crinkled  texture,  and  when  she  moved  they  glistened 


82  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

and  played  hide  and  seek  in  the  clinging  folds. 
Around  her  fair,  full  throat  a  rope  of  emeralds  coiled 
twice. 

"  Am  I  all  right — ready  for  publication  and  criti 
cism?  The  damp  weather  makes  my  hair  so  curly 
I  can  scarcely  keep  it  in  line.  Ma-Lila,  the  clasp  of 
my  necklace  feels  a  little  rickety,  so  I  must  ask  you 
to  move  it  around  in  front,  and  cover  it  securely  with 
this." 

She  held  out  a  diamond  butterfly,  and  Eliza  fast 
ened  it  in  the  gold-wire  links  of  the  emerald  chain. 
As  she  settled  the  jewels  in  place,  she  stooped  and 
kissed  one  lovely  white  shoulder. 

"  Solemn  little  mother !  I  know  exactly  what  you 
are  thinking.  That  I  am  as  frivolous  a  creature  as 
grandmother's  heirloom  butterfly?  You  should  not 
lose  sight  of  the  psychic  symbolism  of  this  much  slan 
dered  and  despised  insect.  Little  white  butterflies 
whose  wings  are  all  powdered  with  shining  star-dust 
are  the  souls  of  babies " 

"  Pagan  nonsense  that  I  won't  listen  to.  More 
over,  you  ought  to  be  ashamed  to  jest  about  your 
immortal  soul  as  if  it  were  yours  exclusively — to  play 
with  as  you  would  a  ball." 

"  You  darling  Puritan !  If  you  do  not  unlace  yours 
it  surely  will  smother.  Really,  I  thought  it  was  or 
thodox  to  believe  that  in  the  very  last  analysis  and 
final  adjustment  of  personal  property  one's  own  soul 
was  one's  solitary  chattel  that  defied  and  survived  the 
confiscation  of  death.  Motherkin,  don't  scold !  Kiss 
me  good  night,  and  help  me  with  my  cloak,  so  that 
I  shall  not  muss  all  this  lace  jabot.  Is  not  father 
ready?" 


A    SPECKLED    BIRD  83 

Eliza  laid  her  long,  white  velvet  cloak  around  her 
and  tied  the  ribbons  under  her  chin. 

"What  keeps  father  so  long?  I  heard  the  front 
door  bell  ring;  is  there  a  visitor?  " 

"  No  visitor.  Only  some  document  left  for  the 
Judge.  He  is  dressing." 

Eglah  went  to  the  door  of  an  adjoining  room  and 
rapped. 

"  Father,  we  shall  be  late.  Unpardonable,  you 
know,  at  a  formal  dinner." 

"  Almost  ready.  Old  men  need  more  time  for  re 
pairs  than  young  beauties." 

When  he  came  in,  walking  briskly,  with  his  over 
coat  on  his  arm,  Eliza  saw  that  he  had  rallied  surpris 
ingly.  Brandy  reinforced  his  nerves,  and  the  cau 
tious,  defensive  tactics  of  a  lifetime  availed  now  to 
readjust  and  restore  his  equipoise  of  manner.  A  flush 
showed  on  the  full  cheeks,  and  his  eyes  shone  like 
those  of  a  cat  in  some  dim  corner. 

"  Inexcusably  late,  father!     What  can  we  say?  " 

"  Come,  my  dear;  leave  that  to  me.  I  shall  simply 
apologize  by  telling  the  truth —  a  spell  of  indigestion 
delayed  me,  but  I  felt  sure  one  of  the  Secretary's  fa 
mous  cocktails  would  rejuvenate  me." 

Women,  secure  in  their  heritage  of  personal 
charms,  resent  as  the  most  unpardonable  of  affronts 
to  their  mental  acumen  explanations  that  do  not  ex 
plain,  and  Mrs.  Mitchell  was  thoroughly  exasperated 
by  the  flimsiness  of  the  deception  which  she  was  ex 
pected  to  accept  with  unquestioning  credulity.  Si 
lence  under  strenuous  conditions  she  could  have  con 
doned,  because  it  left  her  the  resource  of  conjecture; 
an  honest  confession  of  vitally  grave  business  com 
plications  she  would  have  regarded  as  confidential, 


84  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

and  loyally  held  inviolate,  but  "  oysters,  ale,  and 
Roquefort  "  was  a  stinging  challenge  to  her  feminine 
intuitions.  Judge  Kent's  arrested  assertion :  "  The 
truth  is — "  recalled  Mrs.  Maurice's  estimate  of  his 
veracity  when  she  had  applied  to  him  the  sarcasm : 
"  He  holds  truth  too  precious  to  be  wasted  on  every 
body."  That  he  cowered  under  some  unexpected  blow 
she  was  quite  sure,  but  her  solicitude  included  him 
only  as  his  interests  involved  Eglah's  welfare,  and  any 
intimation  of  coming  disaster  fluttered  this  foster- 
mother,  as  the  faint,  grey  shadow  of  a  hawk  high  in 
the  heavens  startles  a  hen  into  signalling  her  brood. 
Ignorant  of  the  quarter  whence  trouble  might  ap 
proach,  how  could  she  shield  Eglah,  whose  safety  had 
been  committed  to  her  guardianship?  Had  she  the 
right  to  discover  the  contents  of  a  note  that  "  con 
tained  no  news  "  ?  Did  his  falsehood  entitle  her  to 
pry  into  his  correspondence?  All  the  smothered  dis 
trust  of  years  was  acutely  intensified,  and  she  rose 
and  walked  to  his  room.  A  bright  light  shone 
through  the  transom,  but  when  she  turned  the  bolt 
she  found  the  door  locked.  During  her  residence  in 
the  house  this  precaution  had  never  before  been 
taken,  hence  she  knew  the  note  had  not  been  de 
stroyed.  Returning  to  the  library,  she  rang  the  bell, 
and  the  butler  responded  promptly. 

"Have  you  locked  up  the  silver?  Bring  me  the 
key.  Close  the  house  for  the  night.  Judge  Kent  will 
be  out  late.  Tell  Octavia  to  have  good  fires  upstairs, 
and  then  she  need  not  wait  for  Miss  Eglah,  as  I  shall 
sit  up  till  she  comes ;  and,  Watson,  you  can  go  home. 
Should  the  front  door  bell  ring,  I  shall  be  here." 

More  than  once  she  had  suspected  that  the  senator 
was  interested  in  financial  speculations,  and,  though 


A    SPECKLED    BIRD  85 

Eglah's  fortune  had  been  carefully  tied  up  beyond  his 
reach,  she  began  to  fear  he  might  by  some  devious 
process  jeopard  it.  "  Hypothecating  securities  "  was 
a  bristling  phrase  she  had  never  quite  comprehended, 
but  it  symbolized  an  ogre  she  must  outwit. 

In  one  corner  of  the  library  stood  a  tall,  brass- 
mounted  chiffonier  filled  with  papers,  and  above  it 
hung  an  engraving.  Behind,  and  entirely  concealed, 
was  a  door  opening  into  a  small  bath-room  that 
formed  an  alcove  in  the  senator's  apartment.  After 
an  hour  had  passed,  Mrs.  Mitchell  placed  her  shoulder 
against  the  chiffonier,  that  rolled  easily  on  its  castors, 
and  she  slipped  behind  it.  There  was  no  key  in  the 
lock,  but  a  slender  steel  bolt  slid  horizontally  under 
her  hand,  and  the  door  opened  a  few  inches  only, 
barred  by  a  table,  which  she  succeeded  in  pushing 
aside.  Lifting  the  portiere  inside,  she  entered  the 
sleeping-room,  and  found  the  robe  de  chambre  hang 
ing  over  the  back  of  a  chair.  The  pockets  were 
empty,  the  drawers  of  the  bureau  locked,  but  under 
the  pillow  on  the  bed  she  thrust  one  hand  and  drew 
out  the  object  of  her  search.  It  contained  neither 
date  nor  signature,  and  was  type-written  in  purple 
ink  on  thin  paper  bearing  no  water-mark. 

"  A  friend  to  you  and  to  yours  believes  it  a  genuine 
kindness  to  inform  you  that  the  identity  of  '  ELY 
TWIGGS  '  has  been  discovered,  and  hopes  an  early 
knowledge  of  this  fact  may  be  useful  to  you." 

She  replaced  the  note  beneath  the  pillow,  returned 
to  the  library,  and  rolled  back  the  chiffonier.  After 
all,  she  had  ended  her  quest  in  a  cul-de-sac.  Turning 
the  gas  jets  low,  she  sat  watching  the  blue  flicker  that 


86  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

danced  like  witch-lights  in  the  grate,  and  once  she 
smiled  at  her  own  discomfiture,  realizing  that  her  at 
tempt  was  futile  as  would  be  the  trial  of  a  Yale  key 
to  open  a  "  combination  "  vault  lock,  the  arrange 
ment  of  which  was  unknown.  Keenly  alert,  she  heard 
the  rattle  of  the  night-latch,  the  closing  of  the  front 
door,  and,  after  a  moment,  Judge  Kent  came  slowly 
into  the  room.  At  first  he  did  not  notice  her  pres 
ence,  and  in  this  brief  unguarded  interval  she  saw 
the  countenance  without  its  habitual  mask — a  face 
gloomy,  perturbed,  unnaturally  flushed,  with  restless 
eyes  gleaming  like  those  of  a  jaded,  hunted  forest 
animal. 

"  Ah— Mrs.  Mitchell!  Sitting  up  for  Eglah? 
Didn't  she  tell  you  she  was  going  from  the  dinner  to 
the  cotillon?  Herriott  will  see  her  home.  It  is 
a  shame  to  have  kept  you  up,  but  girls  are  so  thought 
less." 

"  Eglah  is  never  that,  and  I  knew  she  would  be  late 
at  the  cotillon.  I  waited  down-stairs  solely  to  see 
you." 

'''  Very  kind,  I  am  sure ;  but  I  feel  much  better, 
thank  you.  Indeed,  I  may  say  I  have  fully  recovered 
from  that  sudden,  intolerable  spell  of  nausea.  You 
are  very  good  to  worry  over  that  little  attack,  but 
pray  think  no  more  about  it.  I  shall  abjure  Welsh 
rarebit  and  oysters  in  future.  At  my  time  of  life, 
pneumogastric  nerves  get  their  innings." 

Brightening  the  light  in  the  gas  globe  over  the 
mantel,  she  approached  and  confronted  him. 

"  Judge  Kent,  I  am  not  '  worrying '  over  the  con 
dition  of  your  digestive  organs,  but  I  do  feel  deeply 
interested  in  the  nature  of  the  trouble  that  has  come 
upon  you  so  unexpectedly,  and  I  cannot  sleep  until 


A    SPECKLED    BIRD  87 

I  tell  you  what  I  have  done  to-night.  Whatever  in 
jures  you  wounds  Eglah,  and  solely  on  her  account 
I  felt  justified  in  taking  a  step  that  no  weaker  motive 
could  have  sanctioned.  I  sat  up  to  tell  you  that  when 
I  found  you  would  not  trust  me  with  the  truth,  I 
hunted  it  by  reading  the  note  that  fell  this  evening 
like  a  bombshell.  I  have  no  hesitation  in  confessing 
the  fact.  I  am  here  for  that  purpose." 

She  set  her  small,  white  teeth  grimly  and  clasped 
her  hands  behind  her. 

He  looked  down  at  her,  as  a  mastiff  at  a  barking 
pug,  and,  throwing  back  his  head,  laughed  heartily, 
clapping  his  hands  softly. 

"  Bravo,  Methodist  burglar !  You  seem  an  expert, 
and  find  locked  doors  no  barrier.  What  would  Eglah 
think  of  your  breaking  into  my  room,  and  into  my 
correspondence?  " 

"  Shall  we  ask  her?  Only  my  promise  not  to  men 
tion  this  matter  to  her  prevents  me  from  telling  her  as 
quickly  and  frankly  as  I  have  told  you.  May  I  speak 
to  her?" 

"  Madam,  you  possess  an  arsenal  of  mental  reser 
vations,  and  I  doubt  whether  you  can  keep  a  prom 
ise." 

"  I  can  be  silent  against  my  will,  and  even  in  de 
fiance  of  my  judgment.  Try  me." 

"  Then  consider  yourself  on  probation.  Where  is 
my  hoax  of  a  note?  " 

"  Under  your  pillow,  where  you  left  it." 

His  eyes  twinkled,  and  his  voice  shook  as  with  sup 
pressed  laughter. 

"  A  woman's  curiosity  cost  us  Eden.  My  dear 
little  lady,  what  did  you  discover  in  my  anonymous 
letter?" 


88  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

"  That  '  Ely  Twiggs  '  is  a  terrible  menace  to  your 
peace  of  mind." 

"  Would  you  like  a  translation  of  that  ugly  occult 
phrase  ?  It  is  merely  a  telegraphic  cipher.  You  have 
conjured  up  a  malignant  chimera;  rest  assured  it  is 
only  a  dingy  red-paper  balloon,  with  a  flickering  taper 
inside.  Good  night.  Pray  allow  no  compunctious 
qualms  to  disturb  the  peace  of  your  Methodist  con 
science." 

"  No  church  is  responsible  for  errors  of  its  mem 
bers,  and  I  wish  I  could  believe  it  possible  that  your 
Episcopal  conscience  will  allow  you  a  night  of  refresh 
ing  sleep.  For  my  dear  child's  sake,  I  hoped  you 
would  confide  in  me,  and  I  regret  that  you  withhold 
the  truth.  Good  night,  sir." 

"  Little  foster-mother,  remember  your  promise." 

He  held  out  his  hand,  but  she  declined  the  over 
ture  and  walked  away. 

"  My  Methodist  promise  will  bear  any  weight  laid 
on  it." 

Without  premonition,  a  sudden  storm  had  swept 
over  the  city  that  night,  and  at  two  o'clock,  when 
Eglah  and  Mr.  Herriott  went  down  the  steps  to  enter 
their  carriage,  the  stone  pavement  held  tiny  pools  and 
rills  of  water. 

"  Wait,  Eglah,  your  slippers  will  be  soaked." 

"  I  can  run  across  on  tip-toe." 

"  You  shall  not !     Permit  me." 

He  stooped,  lifted  her  from  the  lower  step,  and 
placed  her  on  the  cushioned  seat. 

11  How  strong  you  are !  "  she  said,  laughing,  as  he 
entered  the  carriage  and  sat  down  opposite,  not  be 
side  her. 


A    SPECKLED    BIRD  89 

"  Physically — yes.  If  my  force  of  will  equalled  my 
nerves  and  muscles,  I  should  be  a  much  happier  man/' 

"  Infirmity  of  will  ?  You, — the  most  obstinate  man 
I  ever  met !  How  little  you  know  yourself!  " 

"  You  are  so  sure  you  read  me  aright,  perhaps  you 
understand  why  all  the  strength  of  my  manhood  has 
not  saved  me  from  staking  my  earthly  hopes  on  a 
venture  that  may  be  fatal.  Can  you  explain  ?  " 

"  Is  it  some  scientific  scheme?  Some  theory  that 
may  prove  a  delusion  ?  " 

"  It  is  simply  the  possibility  that  the  woman  I  love 
will  not  give  me  her  heart.  Eglah,  I  have  been  pa 
tient.  I  wished  you  to  see  and  know  other  men — to 
form  your  own  ideal,  to  compare  me  with  some  more 
brilliant  and  attractive — before  I  asked  for  your  love. 
Since  the  day  I  first  saw  you — a  grieved  child — at 
Nutwood,  my  heart  has  been  entirely  yours,  and 
all  my  future  is  gilded  with  the  hope  of  a  home  in 
which  you  will  reign  as  my  wife.  I  bring  you  the  one 
unshared  love  of  my  life.  May  I  have  the  blessed 
assurance  that  you  will  accept  it?  " 

For  some  seconds  Eglah  neither  moved  nor  spoke ; 
then  she  slipped  down  on  her  knees  and  laid  her  head 
on  his  hands,  that  were  folded  together. 

"  Mr.  Noel — dear  Mr.  Noel — I  will  never  marry. 
Only  one  man  in  all  the  world  is  necessary  to  my 
happiness,  and  he  is  my  father.  What  you  tell  me 
now  is  a  surprise — a  painful  surprise  to  me — because 
I  never  thought  of  you  as  of  some  who  flattered  and 
even  some  who  have  asked  my  hand.  You  were  al 
ways  my  best  friend,  my  wise,  sympathetic  com 
panion,  and  I  never  could  think  of  you  as  desiring  or 
needing  any  woman's  affection.  You  have  seemed 
unlike  other  men  I  meet  in  society,  and  I  believed  you 


90  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

cared  most  for  books  and  scientific  experiments, 
though  I  thought  you  always  felt  a  very  kind,  friendly, 
brotherly  interest  in  me.  Oh,  I  am  so  sorry  you  have 
uttered  such  words  to-night !  You  must  know  I  am 
not  like  other  women  in  our  circle,  and  I  have  no 
intention  of  marrying.  If  I  should  select  any  man 
to  love  it  might  be  you,  because  I  respect  and  trust 
you  so  profoundly;  but  that  could  never  happen  to 
me.  What  have  I  inadvertently  done  to  make  you 
misjudge  my  feelings?  You  must  forgive  me.  I 
never  suspected." 

As  she  pressed  her  face  against  his  hands  he  felt 
her  lips  trembling,  and  his  struggle  for  self-control 
was  short  and  fierce.  After  a  moment,  he  raised  and 
replaced  her  on  the  seat  and  sat  beside  her. 

"  I  can  reproach  only  myself  for  a  delusion  that 
costs  me  more  than  you  will  ever  know.  In  my  lone 
liness  the  dream  was  so  beautiful.  I  could  not  resist  its 
fascination.  Dear  little  girl,  you  are  the  only  one  I 
ever  wished  or  asked  to  be  my  wrife,  and  because  you 
are  so  precious  to  me  I  will  not  surrender  my  hope, 
unless  you  force  me.  Remember  the  long  years  I 
have  waited  for  you.  In  time,  perhaps,  you  might 
learn  to  care  for  me.  May  I  entreat  you  to  try?  " 

"  Mr.  Noel,  I  trust  you,  I  admire  you — in  a  way  I 
feel  attached  to  you — but  I  must  tell  you  the  truth. 
I  shall  marry  no  one,  not  even  you." 

"  Then  I  shall  never  repeat  my  folly.  Be  sure  I 
will  vex  you  no  more ;  but  there  is  something  you  can 
do  to  lessen  my  pain.  If  trouble  or  disaster  or  sor 
row  overtake  you,  will  you  promise  to  confide  in  me, 
to  allow  me  to  share  it,  as  if  I  were  indeed  that  elder 
brother  you  have  tried  to  believe  me?  " 

"  Yes,  Mr.  Noel.     After  father  I  will  always  turn 


A    SPECKLED    BIRD  91 

next  to  you,  and  you  must  not  condemn  me  because, 
unintentionally,  I  have  been  so  unfortunate  as  to  hurt 
you." 

"  For  several  reasons  I  wish  your  father  to  know 
at  once  all  that  has  been  said  to-night.  He  is  aware 
of  my  intentions,  and  kind  enough  to  approve  them. 
One  final  request  I  trust  you  will  not  refuse  me.  The 
visit  to  my  house  on  the  Lake  has  been  definitely 
arranged,  and  I  particularly  desire  that  no  change  of 
plan  should  be  made.  Henceforth  no  word  of  mine 
will  ever  recall  this  interview,  and  during  your  stay 
under  my  roof  I  assure  you  no  allusion  to  my  dead 
hopes  shall  annoy  you.  Trust  me,  and  come." 

The  carriage  stopped  at  Senator  Kent's  door.  As 
Mr.  Herriott  led  her  up  the  steps,  she  noticed  he 
barely  touched  her  arm,  and  when  he  rang  the  bell 
she  caught  his  hand  between  both  of  hers. 

"  Dear  Mr.  Noel — you  do  forgive  me  ?  " 

A  neighboring  lamp  shone  full  on  his  handsome 
face,  pale  and  set,  and  a  sudden  consciousness  of  the 
unusual  charm  of  his  noble  personality  thrilled  her. 
Withdrawing  his  hand,  he  held  it  behind  him,  and,  as 
he  looked  down  at  her,  his  lips  twitched. 

"  You  have  done  me  no  wrong  by  simply  following 
the  true,  womanly  dictates  of  your  pure  heart.  Mar 
riage  without  genuine  love  is  a  degradation  to  which 
you  could  never  stoop.  I  will  love  you  always,  al 
ways  ;  but  I  find  it  hard  to  forgive  myself  for  making 
utter  shipwreck  of  a  man's  dearest  aim  in  life.  Good 
night." 

As  Mrs.  Mitchell  opened  the  door,  he  turned  away 
and  went  swiftly  into  the  street. 

"  Eglah!     What  is  the  matter?     You  are  crying." 


92  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

"  How  can  I  help  it  when  I  have  hurt  the  noblest 
man  in  all  the  world — except  father?  My  one  true 
friend,  who  never  failed  to  be  good  to  me !  " 

'  You  have  refused  to  marry  Mr.  Herriott  ?  My 
baby,  you  will  never  find  his  equal.  Your  father  can 
scarcely  forgive  this  defeat  of  his  pet  scheme,  dating 
from  the  time  you  were  ten  years  old." 


CHAPTER    IX 

"  Herriott,  I  owe  you  an  apology  for  coming  so 
late,  but  feel  quite  sure  you  will  pardon  a  delay  that 
was  unavoidable.  I  have  kept  your  dinner  waiting 
half  an  hour." 

"  No  matter,  provided  you  bring  an  appetite  that 
can  defy  overdone  fish.  I  am  glad  it  is  only  delay, 
and  not  total  failure.  Vernon,  you  look  so  spent,  may 
I  venture  to  offer  your  reverence  a  tonic — club- 
labelled  '  cocktail '  ?  It  is  the  best  antidote  I  dare 
suggest  for  the  slow  method  of  suicide  you  have 
adopted." 

"  Thank  you — no." 

"  Then  come  in  to  dinner." 

"  I  wasted  the  whole  afternoon  trying  to  find  a  boy 
down  on  the  East  Side,  but  when  at  last  I  reached  the 
house  I  was  told  he  had  moved  from  that  neighbor 
hood.  He  is  a  soloist  at  St.  Hyacinth's,  and  I  had 
promised  him  a  booklet." 

"Leighton  Dane?" 

"Yes.     What  do  you  know  of  him?  " 

"  That  he  will  sing  no  more  at  St.  Hyacinth's. 
Henceforth  his  solos  belong  to  choirs  beyond  the 
stars.  The  boy  is  slowly  dying  of  consumption." 

"  When  did  you  see  him?  " 

"  A  few  days  ago.  He  is  at  No.  980 Street, 

Brooklyn.  Your  cousin  Eglah  asked  me  to  keep  an 
eye  on  him.  Poor  little  lad!  His  battle  with  pain 


94:  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

and  loneliness  is  pathetic,  and  I  rather  think  the  end  is 
not  far  off." 

"  Loneliness?     Who  takes  care  of  him?  " 

"  His  mother  is  away  all  day  at  her  work,  but  an 
old  German  and  his  wife  living  on  the  same  floor  of 
the  tenement  look  after  him  as  best  they  can." 

"  Could  you  deliver  the  book  to  him  ?  " 

"  If  you  wish  it ;  but  why  not  make  another  effort 
to  see  him?  " 

"  My  hands  are  so  full.  In  two  days  I  must  run 
down  to  Washington,  and  then  back  home,  where  I 
am  needed.  How  luxurious  your  quarters  are !  Less 
like  a  bachelor's  den  than  one  would  expect." 

"  Next  week  I  give  up  these  rooms,  and  when  I 
chance  to  be  in  the  city  shall  live  at  the  club." 

"  Is  not  this  decision  rather  sudden  ?  " 

"  No.  For  some  time  I  have  contemplated  an 
other  expedition  to  Arizona  and  Montana,  in  quest  of 
prehistoric  records  needed  for  an  anthropological 
paper  that  Professor  De  Wette  asked  me  to  con 
tribute  to  the  next  volume  of  Reports." 

"  What  date  have  you  fixed?  " 

"  About  the  middle  of  July,  immediately  after  the 
visit  to  '  Greyledge/  which  Senator  Kent  and  Eglah 
have  promised  as  soon  as  Congress  adjourns.  I  am 
sorry  you  could  not  arrange  to  join  the  small  '  house 
party/  and  rest  yourself  by  fishing  in  the  Lake,  in 
stead  of  the  turbid  pools  of  humanity." 

"  What  about  Calvary  House?  We  expect  you 
there." 

"That  pleasure  must  be  deferred;  but  I  have 
thought  a  good  deal  about  your  need  of  more  ground 
there,  and  believe  I  have  found  just  what  you  want. 
Come  into  the  library,  it  is  cooler,  and  I  have  some 


A    SPECKLED    BIRD  95 

papers  for  you.  You  know  the  Ravenal  lands — some 
twenty  acres — lie  across  "  Tangled  Brook,"  west  of 
your  lines.  The  property  was  sold  recently  by  the 
trustees  and  my  agent  bought  it.  Now  you  can  eas 
ily  bridge  the  stream,  using  the  foundation  of  the  old 
paper-mill  dam,  and  by  extending  your  fences  cover 
the  whole.  I  know  the  old  farm-house  was  burned 
years  ago,  but  those  pasture  lands  are  fine,  and  that 
hill  sloping  south  will  make  a  good  vineyard.  Here 
are  all  the  papers,  and  my  deed  to  the  Brotherhood. 
Stop !  No  thanks,  not  a  word,  or  I  cancel  the  trans 
fer.  Some  day,  when  I  visit  you,  I  may  not  be  wek 
come,  because  I  promise  you  now,  if  your  steward^ 
ship  does  not  suit  me  and  things  seem  mismanaged, 
I  will  most  certainly  turn  you  all  out." 

Father  Temple  laid  the  bundle  of  papers  on  the 
table  and  grasped  Mr.  Herriott's  hand,  pressing  it 
warmly,  but  something  in  the  bright,  steady  grey 
eyes  warned  him  to  attempt  no  verbal  expression  of 
gratitude. 

His  host  lighted  a  cigar,  and  drew  from  a  stand 
near  his  elbow  a  portfolio  tied  with  purple  tape. 

"  Does  your  reverence  ever  waste  time  now  in 
sketches  and  water-color  ?  " 

"  Life  is  far  too  strenuous  for  such  trifling." 

"  How  do  you  know  that  some  day  you  will  not 
be  required  to  dig  up  that  buried  talent  and  answer 
the  charge  of  neglecting  to  bring  in  the  expected  in 
terest?  Nature  intended  you  for  one  of  her  artistic 
interpreters,  and  if  you  had  been  loyal  to  her  com 
mission  you  might  rank  to-day  as  R.A.  Last  sum 
mer  I  was  searching  an  old  trunk  for  a  college 
text-book,  when  I  happened  to  find  some  of  your 


96  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

drawings,  that  were  packed  by  mistake  with  my  lug 
gage  in  the  bustle  of  leaving  the  university." 

From  the  pile  of  loose  sheets  he  held  up  one,  and, 
after  a  moment's  survey,  in  which  he  turned  it  at 
various  angles,  he  handed  it  to  his  guest. 

Father  Temple  was  leaning  back  in  a  cushioned 
arm-chair,  and  against  the  violet  velvet  background 
his  pale,  placid,  scholarly  face  was  sharply  silhouetted. 
Listlessly  raising  the  sketch  sidewise,  so  that  a  gas 
jet  on  his  left  shone  upon  it,  he  looked  at  it.  The 
profound  repose  that  habitually  rested  on  his  coun 
tenance  broke  up  swiftly,  as  a  sleeping  pool  shivers 
when  a  stone  is  hurled  into  its  motionless  depths. 
His  lips  whitened,  and  he  laid  the  paper  as  a  screen 
over  his  eyes.  Mr.  Herriott  crossed  the  floor  to  the 
door  of  the  dining-room,  and,  loitering  deliberately, 
ordered  coffee.  When  he  came  back,  followed  by  a 
servant  bearing  coffee  and  liqueurs,  the  priest  was 
standing  at  an  open  window,  and  in  the  clenched 
fingers  of  the  hands  clasped  behind  him  the  sketch 
quivered  as  though  shaken  by  the  wind. 

"  Close  the  door,  Hawkins,  and  when  I  want  you 
I  will  ring.  Come,  Vernon ;  I  remember  your  fond 
ness  for  coffee,  and  this  is  good  and  piping  hot." 

The  thin  figure  in  the  girded  cassock  shook  his 
head  and  leaned  out  of  the  window,  staring  up  at  the 
golden  stars  throbbing  above  the  roar  and  din  of  the 
crowded  street. 

After  some  minutes,  during  which  the  host  rattled 
cups  and  glasses,  Father  Temple  walked  up  and  down 
the  room,  then  came  back  to  the  table.  The  despair 
ing  sorrow  in  his  deep,  soft  eyes  made  Mr.  Herriott 
rise  instantly. 


A    SPECKLED    BIRD  97 

"  Vernon,  have  I  wounded  you  by  my  reminiscent 
babble  of  college  days  ?  " 

Without  a  word,  the  arms  of  the  priest  were  lifted 
to  the  man  towering  over  him,  and  he  laid  his  head 
on  the  shoulder  of  one  who  had  never  failed  him. 

"  Temple,  forgive  me,  dear  old  fellow,  if  I  have 
broken  rudely  into  some  sacred,  sealed  chamber." 

"  You  have  done  me  a  priceless  kindness  in  re 
storing  my  picture,  but  with  it  comes  the  hour  of 
humiliation  I  always  knew  must  sooner  or  later  over 
take  me.  Noel,  your  good  opinion  is  so  precious  to 
me  I  shrink  from  losing  it.  I  have  dreaded  your  con 
demnation  next  to  that  of  my  God.  You  always 
trusted  and  respected  me,  even  in  what  you  deemed 
foolish  monkish  extremes,  and  yet — and  yet " 

"  Sit  down,  and  pull  yourself  together.  You  have 
fasted  and  prayed  your  starved  nerves  into  a  fit  of 
womanish  hysteria.  I  am  no  father  confessor  for  you, 
and  if  you  are  not  the  true,  loyal  man  I  have  believed 
you  all  these  years,  then,  while  you  are  under  my 
roof,  I  prefer  not  to  find  out  that  you  are  a  hypo 
crite." 

He  pushed  his  friend  back  into  the  easy  chair,  and 
handed  him  a  glass  of  chartreuse,  but  it  was  put  aside. 

"  Noel,  you  must  hear  me.  After  the  first  bitter 
ness  I  shall  feel  relieved  that  you  know  literally  all  I 
can  tell,  and  then  you  will  understand  many  things 
in  my  life.  To-day  I  am  what  I  am,  simply  and  solely 
in  the  hope  of  expiating  the  sin  of  my  youth.  Noel, 
the  sin  of  my  youth  found  me  out  early,  and  this  life 
I  lead  is  an  attempted  atonement.  Do  you  begin  to 
understand?  " 

Mr.  Herriott  held  up  the  sketch,  and,  as  he  struck 
it  sharply  with  his  fingers,  his  face  darkened. 
7 


:9S  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

"  Whose  portrait  is  this?  " 

"  The  woman — the  young  girl — whose  life  I 
blighted." 

"Good  God!  Blighted?  Is  your  villainy  so 
black?" 

"  I  am  Father  Temple,  vowed  to  celibacy,  and 
somewhere  in  the  wide,  cruel  world  a  wife  and  child 
of  mine  may  have  gone  down  to  perdition  because 
I  was  a  coward — a  vile  coward,  too  base  for  a  brave 
man  to  recognize.  I  knew  you  would  despise  me, 
and  I  kept  silent  as  long  as  I  could.  Do  you  won 
der?" 

Mr.  Herriott  stood  over  him  like  an  avenging 
Viking. 

'  You  betrayed  a  woman  ?  Wife,  or  victim  of " 

"  Both.     I  married  and  I  deserted  her." 

"  The  marriage  was  legal — no  swindling  sham  ?  " 

"  Legal  in  form,  though  I  was  a  minor  and  she  a 
mere  child." 

"  And   you   ensnared   her   deliberately,    intending 

The  priest  sprang  to  his  feet  and  his  eyes  flashed. 

""  I  loved  her,  and  married  her  secretly,  and  in 
tended  no  wrong;  but  before  I  could  publicly  claim 
her — before  I  was  of  age  and  dared  to  face  my  father 
with  the  fact  of  my  marriage — I  lost  her.  She  dis 
appeared  as  completely  as  if  the  ocean  rolled  over 
her." 

»  "  Is  this  the  unvarnished  truth  ?  There  is  nothing 
worse,  nothing  more  heinous  than  what  you  have 
told  me?"  Mr.  Herriott  breathed  quickly,  as  his 
'keen,  cold  eyes  searched  severely  the  wan  face  before 
him. 

"  I  have  told  you  the  whole,  bitter  truth." 


A    SPECKLED    BIRD  99 

"  Then  I  have  not  entirely  lost  my  friend.  Now 
sit  down;  begin  at  the  beginning  of  this  black  busi 
ness,  and  let  me  try  to  share  your  load  of  trouble. 
Don't  hurry — be  explicit.  Keep  back  nothing.  If 
you  intended  no  wrong,  there  must  and  shall  be  found 
some  way  to  right  it." 

"  Too  late!  If  you  take  a  white  flower  and  inhale 
its  perfume,  and  then  carelessly  drop  it  where  hurry 
ing  crowds  are  sure  to  trample  it  into  the  dust,  what 
hope  that,  search  as  you  may,  you  will  ever  find  it,  or, 
finding  it,  be  able  to  restore  the  torn,  soiled,  ruined 
petals?  Wherever  she  is,  no  matter  what  she  has 
become,  what  sin  and  shame  stain  and  defile  her,  she 
is  my  wife.  I  swore  before  God  I  would  take  her  for 
my  wife,  t  for  better,  for  worse,'  and  though  it  is  my 
fault — and  mine  only — that  I  did  not  publish  the  mar 
riage,  I  have  kept  my  vows,  and  am  dedicated  to  life 
long  celibacy.  My  boyish  cowardice — what  awful 
shipwreck  it  has  made  of  two  lives!  You  want  the 
details?  It  is  a  shameful  story,  but  not  long.  In 
the  early  summer  of  my  nineteenth  year  I  spent  vaca 
tion  in  the  far  Northwest,  at  an  advanced  army  sta 
tion,  Post  ,  where  father  was  in  command  of 

his  regiment.  Hunting  was  fine  but  dangerous,  as 
Indians  on  the  frontier  were  ugly  just  then,  and  sev 
eral  tribes  were  painting  for  the  war  path.  One  hot 
afternoon,  tramping  back  to  camp  with  my  rifle  on 
my  shoulder,  I  went  down  a  steep,  wooded  hill  to 
drink  at  a  spring,  and  as  I  parted  the  thick  growth  I 
saw  a  cow  chewing  her  cud,  while  a  bare-footed  girl 
stooped  and  milked  into  a  cedar  pail.  She  sprang  up, 
much  alarmed,  and  stood  against  a  glowing  back 
ground  of  scarlet  rhododendrons.  Her  calico  bon 
net  had  fallen  off,  her  sleeves  rolled  up  showed  her 


100  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

white,  dimpled  arms,  and  all  over  her  head  and  shoul 
ders  the  gold-colored  hair  was  twisted  into  little 
curls  and  waves  and  tendrils  that  glittered  like  gilt 
wire.  As  she  stared  at  me  with  large  purplish-blue 
eyes,  her  bright  red  lips  trembled,  and — "  He 
paused,  and  involuntarily  wrung  his  thin  white  hands. 
"  I  had  seen  handsome  women,  and  many  lovely 
girls,  but  never  so  exquisite  a  creature  as  this,  and 
from  that  moment  I  lost  reason,  prudence,  everything 
but  conscience,  and  my  heritage  of  honorable  in 
stincts.  Nona  Moorland  was  the  daughter  of  a  team 
ster  attached  to  father's  command;  a  brutal,  rough 
man,  whose  second  wife — a  selfish,  jealous  virago — 
made  the  step-daughter's  life  a  cruel  burden.  They 
occupied  a  log  cabin  just  outside  the  Post  parade 
grounds,  and  the  girl  was  never  allowed  in  sight  of 
drill  lines  except  when  under  convoy  of  the  step 
mother  she  assisted  in  carrying  to  headquarters  the 
freshly  laundered  clothes  of  the  officers.  Having 
been  forbidden,  under  threat  of  corporeal  punish 
ment,  to  speak  to  or  be  seen  with  any  soldier,  save  in 
her  father's  cabin,  she  was  terrified  at  the  danger  of 
a  discovery  of  our  acquaintance;  hence  our  inter 
views  were  secret,  and  adroitly  arranged  to  elude 
suspicion.  Her  extraordinary  personal  beauty  and 
gentleness  of  deportment  more  than  compensated  for 
illiteracy  and  humble  origin,  and  after  a  few  days  I 
planned  a  clandestine  marriage,  to  which  she  readily 
assented.  The  Post  chaplain  had  made  a  pet  of  me, 
because  I  aided  him  in  some  botanical  and  geological 
tramps  close  to  the  frontier,  and  finally  he  consented 
to  help  us,  provided  his  agency  was  never  betrayed. 
We  both  swore  we  would  not  divulge  his  name  or 
knowledge  of  our  scheme,  and  so  one  starry  night  he 


A    SPECKLED    BIRD  101 

and  Hill,  a  private  soldier  who  went  as  witness,  stole 
out,  and  met  Nona  and  me  in  a  dense  grove  of  trees 
near  Moorland's  cabin.  There  we  were  married  ac 
cording  to  the  ritual  of  the  Episcopal  Church.  I  was 
not  quite  nineteen,  she  a  slender  girl  just  past  her  fif 
teenth  birthday.  Under  the  quiet  stars  that  shone  as 
our  altar  lights,  we  took  solemn,  life-long  vows  as 
husband  and  wife,  and  there,  when  a  written  certifi 
cate  had  been  given  to  Nona,  we  all  joined  hands  and 
pledged  ourselves  in  the  sight  of  God  to  keep  the 
secret  until  I  was  of  age,  or  thought  it  prudent  to 
publish  the  marriage.  To  her  I  meant  no  more 
wrong  than  to  myself,  and  kept  to  the  form  of  law, 
knowing  we  were  minors,  and  that  no  license  legal 
ized  the  ceremony  which  I  believed  and  argued  the 
Church  sanctified.  You  knew  my  father  sufficiently 
well  to  remember  how  terribly  stern  he  was,  how 
morose  he  often  seemed,  and  I  dared  not  defy  him. 
For  three  weeks  life  was  a  brief  vision  of  heaven  to 
Nona  and  me.  She  was  so  lovely,  so  tender,  so 
humbly  conscious  of  her  social  inferiority  and  lack  of 
education,  so  fired  with  an  ambitious  zeal  for  culture 
\and  improvement  to  fit  herself  for  the  circle  where 
Colonel  Temple's  son  was  born  to  move.  Then  the 
bolt  fell.  A  courier  from  the  nearest  telegraph  sta 
tion  brought  news  that  father  had  been  promoted, 
was  ordered  to  Washington,  and  would  soon  go 
abroad  on  some  military  commission.  I  begged  to 
spend  the  remaining  days  of  my  vacation  at  Post 

,  but  was  sharply  refused,  and  all  things  were 

ordered  in  readiness  for  our  departure  next  day  at 
sunrise." 

Some  overwhelming  memory  arrested  the  narra 
tive,  and  Father  Temple  held  the  portrait  sketch  to- 


Z02  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

ward  the  light.  Then  he  crossed  his  arms  on  the 
table  and  bowed  his  face  upon  them.  The  room  was 
very  still,  and  there  seemed  suddenly  a  startling  in 
sistence  in  the  harsh  sound  of  an  organ  that  began  to 
grind  out  "  O  promise  me,"  on  the  pavement  below. 
Mr.  Herriott  threw  down  a  coin,  closed  the  window, 
and  resumed  his  seat. 

"  Noel,  you  must  think  me  weak  and  unmanly. 
You  are  so  strong  yourself,  you  can  scarcely " 

"  Strong  ?  I  think  if  I  had  to  carry  your  burden 
I  should  go  out  and  hang  myself." 

"  That  last  interview  is  a  perpetual  nightmare  no 
noon  sunshine  ever  dispels.  Nona  was  frantic  at  the 
unexpectedly  sudden  separation,  and  she  clung  to  me 
like  a  drowning  child;  but  by  degrees  she  accepted  the 
inevitable,  and  her  trust  in  me  was  supreme.  She 
would  be  patient,  and  study  books  the  chaplain  would 
provide,  and  rely  on  him  to  forward  her  letters,  and 
receive  and  find  means  to  deliver  mine.  A  full  moon 
showed  me  her  tearful  face  when  we  stood  up  to  say 
good-bye.  Oh,  beautiful,  tender,  devoted,  and  pure 
as  any  lily  God  ever  set  to  bloom  in  a  wicked  world ! 
As  I  took  her  in  my  arms,  she  kissed  me  repeatedly, 
and  I  felt  her  lips  tremble  on  mine  as  she  sobbed : 

"  '  No  matter  what  happens,  you  must  trust  me  as 
perfectly  as  I  trust  you.  If  we  keep  true  to  each 
other,  all  the  world  can't  part  us  long.' 

"  That  farewell  vision  abides  with  me — sleeping,  it 
walks  as  a  living  presence  through  my  dreams ;  wak 
ing,  it  thrusts  itself  between  me  and  my  God ;  and 
when  I  kneel  before  the  marble  image  of  the  Mother 
of  my  Lord,  her  holy  face  is  hidden  by  that  of  my 
fair,  sweet  young  wife.  It  has  become  an  obsession 
from  which  I  cannot  escape.  After  I  went  east,  two 


A    SPECKLED    BIRD  103 

letters  reached  me;  then,  in  the  late  autumn  when 
father  had  sailed,  I  was  stricken  with  typhoid  fever, 
that  kept  me  prisoner  for  three  months,  and  the  in 
flammatory  rheumatism  that  followed  it  so  com 
pletely  wrecked  me,  I  was  carried  to  the  country 
home  of  an  aunt  in  Massachusetts,  in  whose  care 
father  left  me  when  he  went  to  Europe.  In  my  con 
valescence  I  wrote  repeatedly  under  cover  to  the 
chaplain,  signing  only  my  middle  name,  Pembroke, 
but  heard  nothing  until  the  next  June.  While  still  on 
crutches,  I  went  for  a  day's  visit  to  college  to  collect 
and  pack  my  belongings,  and  there  I  found  one  dusty, 
mislaid  letter  from  Nona,  full  of  sad  forebodings.  The 
chaplain  had  wandered  too  far  away  to  a  mountain 
range,  accompanied  only  by  an  orderly,  who  reported 
on  his  return  that  his  companion  had  been  scalped  by 
Indians  while  he  was  examining  some  rock  ledges, 
and  that  he  had  barely  escaped  by  desperate  riding. 
A  cavalry  troop,  sent  out  to  recover  the  body  and 
avenge  the  death,  was  ambushed  in  a  wooded  defile 
and  four  troopers  were  killed,  among  the  number 
Hill.  The  letter  had  been  written  in  January — five 
months  before.  Both  witnesses  of  our  marriage  in 
the  grave !  Anxiety  and  distress  brought  on  renewal 
of  rheumatic  fever,  and  I  was  crippled  in  hands  and 
feet  for  six  terrible  weeks.  One  day,  as  I  was  trying 
my  ability  to  walk  about  the  room,  a  delayed  letter 
was  forwarded  from  college — the  last  I  ever  received 
from  Nona.  Her  father  had  died  very  suddenly  from 
congestion  of  the  lungs,  and  his  wife  returned  imme 
diately  to  her  family  in  Arkansas ;  but  because  of  my 
poor  Nona's  condition,  which  had  subjected  her  to 
severe  abuse  and  horrible  accusations,  the  stepmother 
had  cast  her  off,  refused  her  recognition,  and  aban- 


104  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

doned  her.  Because  she  refused  to  divulge  the  name 
of  her  husband,  her  declaration  that  she  was  a  wife 
only  increased  the  torrent  of  insults  that  swept  her 
beyond  the  pale  of  respectability.  She  wrote  that  one 
friend — the  only  person  who  believed  her  assertion 
that  she  had  been  lawfully  married — was  just  then 
leaving  the  Post  for  his  old  home,  his  time  of  service 
having  expired,  and  he  had  kindly  carried  her  in  a 
covered  wagon  to  a  small  village  some  days'  travel 
east  of  the  Post,  where  he  found  shelter  for  her  until 
after  the  birth  of  her  child.  She  begged  I  would  send 
money  to  pay  her  board  and  also  to  enable  her  to 
travel  east  and  live  near  me,  because  she  was  so  ter 
ror-stricken  among  strangers.  The  same  day  my 
father  summoned  me  to  Europe,  having  decided  I 
should  attend  lectures  in  Germany  and  at  Oxford. 
By  express,  I  forwarded  the  money  to  Nona,  in  ac 
cordance  with  her  directions — "  Care  of  Delia  Brown, 

Thompsonville,  Territory  "  —and  I  wrote  her, 

explaining  all  the  circumstances,  assuring  her  I  would 
join  her  as  soon  as  I  could  travel,  and  that  henceforth 
we  should  never  be  separated.  A  few  hours  later  I 
was  laid  up  with  a  severe  relapse,  and  when,  finally, 
I  started  west  in  September,  I  was  still  so  lame  any 
movement  was  torture.  At  last  the  stage  coach  put 
me  down  at  the  cluster  of  log  houses  called  Thomp 
sonville,  and  by  the  aid  of  crutches  I  found  my  way 
to  a  low,  dark  cabin  of  two  rooms,  where  Delia 
Brown  made  a  scanty  living  by  washing  and  ironing 
for  men  attached  to  a  party  of  prospecting  miners. 
She  was  a  gaunt,  sinister  looking  woman  from  Maine, 
with  small,  deep-set,  faded  yellow  eyes  that  bored 
like  a  gimlet,  and  as  she  took  a  pipe  from  her  ugly 
bluish  lips  and  greeted  me  my  heart  sank.  Where 


A    SPECKLED    BIRD  105 

was  Nona?  Gone — with  the  man  who  brought  her 
there,  and  who  '  paid  well  for  her  keep.'  When  ? 
Several  weeks  ago.  Did  she  receive  my  letter,  and 
had  the  money  reached  her?  Yes,  the  money  had 
been  delivered  to  her — Delia  Brown — and  she  had 
given  it  to  the  woman  Nona,  in  the  presence  of  one 
Josh'  Smith.  My  letter  had  seemed  to  terrify  the 
woman,  and  as  soon  as  she  knew  I  was  coming  she 
went  away  suddenly,  saying  she  was  going  to  New 
Orleans,  and  she  and  the  man  could  take  care  of  the 
baby.  What  was  the  man's  name?  He  called  him 
self  Lay'  Walker,  but  she  doubted  '  if  he  was  not 
somebody  else,  and  folks  had  their  suspicions  about 
the  whole  affair.'  The  baby  boy  was  four  months 
old  when  the  man  and  woman  took  it  away,  but  it  was 
'  such  a  poor,  puny,  ailing  child  it  had  little  chance 
to  live.'  What  I  suffered  then  only  God  will  ever 
know,  but  faith  in  Nona  sustained  me  while  I  went 
from  cabin  to  cabin,  receiving  on  all  sides  confirma 
tion  of  Delia  Brown's  statements  from  women  who 
had  met  her,  and  also  from  the  mail  and  express  agent 
— Josh'  Smith — who  assured  me  he  had  delivered  the 
letter  and  package  of  money  addressed  to  Nona 
Moorland,  care  of  Delia  Brown,  to  the  latter,  and 
exhibited  her  receipt.  Lay'  Walker  was  described  as 
a  very  '  handsome  Spanish-looking  young  fellow/  and 
he  and  the  woman  seemed  fond  of  each  other.  He 
spent  his  money  freely  on  her,  and  talked  about  Flo 
rida  and  banana  growing,  and  said  they  wanted  to 
get  to  New  Orleans,  where  his  friends  had  a  schooner 
running  in  the  West  India  fruit  trade.  After  an  ex 
haustive  search,  I  made  my  way  to  New  Orleans  and 
engaged  police  assistance,  but  no  clue  could  be  found. 
Then  I  arranged  advertisements  to  run  six  months, 


106  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

and  went  on  to  Pensacola  and  to  Tampa.  I  advertised 
in  two  Florida  newspapers,  asking  Nona  Moorland  to 
write  to  me,  care  of  my  father's  lawyer  in  Boston, 
No  response,  no  word,  no  hint  ever  reached  me. 
When  December  arrived  and  I  had  no  tidings,  I  de 
posited  money  in  a  Boston  bank  to  the  credit  of  Nona 
Moorland,  and  leaving  instructions  that  all  mail  mat 
ter  should  be  forwarded  promptly  to  me,  I  sailed  for 
Europe,  shattered  in  body,  almost  hopeless,  and  the 
tortured  prey  of  remorseful  regret  at  the  awful  con 
sequence  of  my  midsummer  madness." 

A  nervous  shiver  seized  him,  and  he  lifted  the 
chartreuse  to  his  colorless  lips. 

Mr.  Herriott's  sinewy  brown  hand  closed  over  the 
cold  white  fingers  half  hidden  in  the  folds  of  the  black 
cassock. 

"  And  the  woman,  Delia  Brown  ?  What  became 
of  her?" 

"How  should  I  know?" 

'  There  lies  the  crux  of  this  dreadful  entanglement. 
She  duped  you." 

"  Possibly.  When  I  left  Thompsonville  she  was 
preparing  to  remove  to  Maine,  where  she  had  rela 
tives.  I  doubted  her  as  long  as  I  could;  but  nearly 
eleven  years  of  cruel  silence  have  slowly  destroyed 
every  vestige  of  hope,  or  of  faith  in  Nona's  loyalty. 
Understand,  I  do  not  accuse  her — I  dare  not — I  ac 
cept  the  blame.  The  fault  was  mine;  she  was  an  in 
nocent,  ignorant  child,  and  what  she  considered  my 
heartless,  wicked  desertion  has  thrown  her  into  the 
jaws  of  destruction.  If  her  soul  is  lost,  God  will  re 
quire  me  to  answer  for  the  ruin — and  that  is  the  bit 
terness  of  my  intolerable  life.  The  immortal  soul  of 
my  wife,  of  the  mother  of  my  child — a  homeless, 


A    SPECKLED    BIRD  107 

nameless,  fatherless  waif !  I  hold  marriage  indissolu 
ble  by  human  enactment,  and  while  Nona  lives  I 
regard  her  as  my  wife,  no  matter  what  she  has  be 
come,  no  matter  into  what  shameful  career  she  may 
have  been  driven  by  my  cowardly  course  of  action. 
When  she  believed  I  had  abandoned  her,  the  poor 
girl  doubtless  grew  desperate.  What  I  have  told  you 
is  known  only  to  my  confessor,  to  the  Superior  of  our 
Order  in  England,  where  I  took  my  vows,  and  to  my 
father,  to  whom  I  promptly  confided  everything 
when  I  joined  him  in  Germany  just  before  his  death. 
That  he  refused  to  forgive  me  you  will  readily  believe. 
This  sketch  you  have  restored  to  me  was  enlarged 

from  one  I  made  at  Post  ,  and  its  loss  greatly 

grieved  me.  Oh,  Noel,  stinging  memory  is  more 
merciless  than  sharp-set  hair  shirts  that  fret  the  flesh. 
When  I  see  happy  mothers  and  children,  their  laugh 
ter  smites  my  heart  like  an  iron  hand;  and  while  I 
minister  to  the  suffering  outcast  little  ones  in  pauper 
homes,  my  bruised  soul  seems  to  hear  the  accusing, 
piteous  cry  of  my  own  forsaken,  lost  lamb — thrown 
out  to  hungry  wolves." 


CHAPTER    X 

Sabbath  quietude  had  laid  a  finger  on  thousands 
of  metal  lips  that  screamed  the  song  of  labor  on  other 
days,  and  the  great  city  seemed  almost  asleep  as  Mr. 
Herriott  entered  his  carriage  at  ten  o'clock  and  gave 
the  order,  "  Brooklyn — Fulton  Ferry."  After  a  rest 
less  night,  spent  in  searching  an  old  diary  for  dates 
and  notes,  he  had  gradually  untied  some  knotted 
memories — vague  and  conflicting — and  straightened 
a  slender  thread  that  might  possibly  guide  to  the 
identification  of  an  elusive  personality.  On  the  seat 
in  front  of  him  a  basket  of  purple  grapes  added  their 
fruity  fragrance  to  the  perfume  of  a  bunch  of  white 
carnations,  and  during  the  long  drive  the  expression 
of  perplexity  which  had  knitted  his  brows  relaxed 
into  the  alert  placidity  that  characterized  his  strong 
face. 

Summer  heat,  blown  in  by  a  humid  south  wind, 
touched  the  sky  with  an  intense  blue,  against  which 
one  long,  thin  curl  of  cloud  shone  like  a  silver  feather, 
and  Brooklyn  parks  and  lawns  shook  their  green 
banners  of  grass  blades  and  young,  silken  foliage.  In 
the  middle  of  a  block  of  old  brick  tenement  houses, 
Mr.  Herriott  entered  an  open  door,  where  two  chil 
dren  fought  over  a  wailing  black  kitten,  and  went  up 
the  inner  stairway  to  a  narrow  hall,  on  which  opened 
several  doors  bearing  cards  inscribed  with  the  name 
of  occupants  of  the  rooms.  At  one,  labelled  "  Mrs. 


A    SPECKLED   BIRD  109 

Dane,"  he  rapped.  It  was  opened  partly,  and  held 
ajar. 

"Well,  who  knocked?" 

"  One  of  Leighton's  friends.     Can  I  see  him?  " 

"  Not  to-day.     He  is  not  well  enough  for  visitors." 

"  May  I  come  in  and  see  you? 

"  Why  should  you?     What  do  you  want?  " 

Before  he  could  reply,  a  weak  voice  pleaded : 

"  Please,  mother!  It  is  Mr.  Herriott:  let  him  in. 
He  has  been  so  good  to  me — please — please !  " 

"  If  I  do,  you  are  not  to  talk  and  bring  back  that 
spell  of  coughing." 

The  door  was  swung  fully  open,  and  Mr.  Herriott 
confronted  "  Juno." 

'  You  are  Mr.  Herriott,  as  I  supposed.  Walk  in, 
and  excuse  the  confusion  of  the  rooms.  I  was  up  all 
night,  and  have  not  put  things  in  order." 

She  wore  a  dark  skirt  and  white  muslin  sacque, 
loose  at  the  throat,  ungirded,  and  the  sleeves  were 
rolled  up,  exposing  the  symmetry  of  her  dimpled 
white  arms.  A  rich,  lovely  red  stained  her  lips  and 
cheeks — perhaps  from  embarrassment,  probably  from 
the  heat  of  the  oil-stove,  on  which,  evidently,  break 
fast  had  been  recently  prepared.  She  pointed  to  an 
adjoining  room,  where  Leighton  lay  on  a  cot  close 
to  the  open  window. 

"  Oh,  sir,  are  they  really  for  me?  "  as  Mr.  Herriott 
laid  the  basket  and  flowers  beside  him. 

"  Look,  mother !  Grapes,  grapes !  And  the  smell 
of  the  carnations !  Was  there  ever  anything  so  sweet? 
I  don't  know  how  to  thank  you,  sir.  I  wish  I  could 
say  something,  but  when  my  heart  is  full  I  just  can't 
tell  it." 


110  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

His  little  hot  hand  caught  Mr.  Harriott's,  and  the 
thin  fingers  twined  caressingly  about  it. 

'  You  are  not  to  thank  me,  and  you  must  not 
talk.  Remember,  that  was  the  condition  upon  which 
I  was  allowed  to  see  you.  Eat  your  grapes  while 
your  mother  tells  me  about  you." 

'  You  will  spoil  him.  I  can't  give  him  such  luxu 
ries  as  hot-house  fruit  and  flowers,  though  now  and 
then  he  has  his  bunch  of  violets." 

"  When  was  the  doctor  here?  " 

"  Friday.  He  changed  the  medicine,  but  I  can  see 
no  benefit  as  yet." 

"  If  you  think  it  would  not  tire  him  too  much,  I 
should  like  to  take  him  out  for  a  drive." 

"  Thank  you,  but  I  could  not  consent  to  that." 

"Why  not?  The  fresh  air  is  balmy  to-day,  and 
would  do  him  good.  I  have  a  carriage  at  the  door, 
and  if  you  are  unwilling  to  trust  the  boy  with  me, 
I  should  be  glad  to  take  you  also.  May  I  ?  " 

Her  blue  eyes  glittered  and  her  lips  straightened 
their  curves. 

"  Most  certainly  not." 

"  Pardon  me,  madam ;  my  interest  in  your 
child " 

"  Does  not  justify  a  man  of  your  position  in  taking 
a  '  department  store  saleswoman  '  to  drive  on  Sunday 
through  public  places." 

"  Perhaps  you  are  right.  Then  I  shall  efface  my 
self  promptly,  and  you  and  Leighton  can  keep  the 
carnage  as  long  as  you  like." 

"  Such  favors  I  accept  from  no  man." 

"  Not  even  to  help  your  sick  boy?  " 

She  put  her  hand  on  the  child's  shining  curls,  and 
a  world  of  tenderness  glorified  her  velvet  eyes. 


A    SPECKLED    BIRD  111 

"  Not  even  for  my  very  own  baby  could  I  incur 
such  an  obligation." 

"  Smell  them,  mother — like  spice !  Don't  they 
make  you  think  of  the  carnation  garden  in  San  Fran 
cisco,  where  Uncle  Dane  used  to  carry  us?  " 

"  How  long  ago  was  that,  Leighton?  "  asked  Mr, 
Herriott,  watching  the  woman's  face. 

"  Oh,  it  was  when  I  was  a  little  chap  and  wore 
frocks." 

"  Were  you  born  in  San  Francisco?  " 

"  No.     He  was  born  in Territory." 

"  Mrs.  Dane,  can  you  tell  me  what  became  of  the 
artist  Belmont?" 

"  Why  do  you  ask  me  that  question?  " 

"  In  order  to  get  an  answer.  He  painted  your 
face  for  his  '  Aurora,'  and  the  picture  was  photo 
graphed." 

"Yes;  I  needed  money,  and  Mr.  Dane  permitted 
him  to  come  to  our  house  for  the  sittings.  That  was 
my  first  and  last  experience  as  a  model." 

"  I  have  met  you  before." 

She  straightened  herself,  and  answered  defiantly: 

"  Probably  I  have  sold  you  gloves,  or  socks,  or 
handkerchiefs — certainly  not  the  right  to  meddle  with 
my  personal  affairs." 

"  I  went  with  a  San  Francisco  friend  to  see  a  night 
school  for  women,  which  his  mother  had  established. 
You  were  there." 

"  Yes,  I  was  there  two  winters.  Now,  sir,  have 
you  a  police  badge  hidden  inside  your  coat  ?  Are  you 
playing  reporter — disguised  as  a  benevolent  gentle 
man — hunting  up  the  details  of  last  night's  meeting 
and  riot  at  Newark?  You  know,  of  course,  that  I 
made  a  speech  there?  " 


112  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

"  Indeed  ?  I  had  imagined  you  sat  up  all  night 
with  your  sick  boy." 

"  There  is  a  strike  on  down  there,  and  I  spoke 
against  arbitrating  labor  grievances,  and  against  the 
ghastly  sham  of  getting  the  rights  of  the  poor  from 
a  picked  judge  and  a  packed  jury.  Bombs  and  boy 
cott  make  the  best  mill  for  grinding  out  justice  to 
starving,  over-worked  men  and  women." 

"  How  long  have  you  been  an  '  anarchist/  or  per 
haps  you  prefer  the  term  '  socialist '  ?  " 

"  From  the  day  I  was  sixteen  years  old,  and  learned 
how  rich  men  trample  and  betray  and  despise  and 
insult  the  ignorant,  helpless  poor." 

"  1 1^  must  have  been  a  terribly  cruel  grievance  that 
transformed  into  a  fury  one  who  was  intended  for  a 
loving,  gentle  woman." 

*"  She  'laughed,,  and  her  beautiful  teeth  took  hold  of 
the  glowing  under  lip. 

"  Grievance?  ^7e  all  have  one — we  are  simply 
born  to  suffer,  as  to  breathe — but  the  unendurable 
the  unpardonable  conies  from  the  grasping,  mur 
derous,  fiendish  selfishness  of  rich  men.  You  have 
been  so  kind  to  my  boy,  I  have  tried  hard  to  believe 
genuine  benevolence — what  you  are  pleased  to  call 
1  Christian  philanthropy  ' — inspired  your  visits  to  him 
during  my  absence,  but  you  are  all  alike — you  gilded 
society  sultans — and  you  come  here  with  some  cow 
ardly  design  carefully  smothered  under  flowers,  fruit, 
and  candy.  So,  Leighton,  make  the  most  of  to-day, 
for  we  will  see  no  more  of  your  Mr.  Herriott." 

"  Madam,  I  shall  be  as  frank  as  you  have  shown 
yourself.  There  is  one  woman  in  this  world  whose 
wishes  rule  me  absolutely,  and  because  she  requested 
me  to  see  your  child  now  and  then,  I  have  come 


A    SPECKLED    BIRD  113 

several  times,  until  my  sympathetic  interest  equals 
hers.  With  your  career  in  New  York  I  am  ac 
quainted.  For  your  radical  views  and  utterances  I 
have  neither  respect  nor  toleration,  yet,  if  you  will 
permit  me  to  explain,  there  are  reasons  that  lead  me 
to  believe  I  can  do  you  a  very  great  service." 

"  I  am  not  in  need  of  service  from  any  man.  Your 
formula  has  not  even  the  ring  of  originality;  I  have 
heard  such  sickening  reiterations  of  it  from  false, 
bearded  lips." 

"  That  you  have  been  a  cruelly  wronged  woman 
I  feel  assured,  but  I  am  equally  certain  that  your 
worst  enemy  was  no  man — was  one  of  your  own  sex. 
For  your  own  sake,  will  you  answer  two  questions?  " 

"  For  my  own  sake,  I  distinctly  refuse  to  be  cate 
chised  by  impertinent  strangers." 

"Oh,  mother;  please  mother!  He  has  been  so 
good  to  me,  how  could  he  mean  harm  to  you?  Don't 
worry  her,  Mr.  Herriott.  JShe  can't  abide  menj  the^ 
fret  her,  and  she  hates  them — urUesTtTiey  are  starved 
and  ragged.  Please  let  her  alone,  and  look  at  my 
\  doves.  They  come  for  the  crumbs  on  the  window 

Ssill.  See !  Here  is  a  new  one,  pure  white.  Mother, 
scatter  some  bread  on  the  sheet  and  they  will  come 
in." 

She  sprinkled  some  scraps  of  cake  close  to  his  pil 
low,  and,  after  a  little  coy  skirmishing,  the  pigeons 
fluttered  in  to  the  feast ;  but  just  then  a  spell  of  cough 
ing  shook  the  fragile  form  on  the  cot,  and  with  a  flash 
and  whirr  the  flock  vanished.  Mrs.  Dane  lifted  the 
boy  and  fanned  him,  wiping  away  the  moisture  that 
beaded  his  clustering  curls,  and. Mr.  Herriott  piled 
the  pillows  and  cushions  behind  his  shaking  shoul- 


114  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

ders.  When  the  paroxysm  ended,  and  Leighton  lay 
wan  and  spent,  the  visitor  leaned  over  him. 

"  I  should  like  to  do  several  things  for  you,  but 
your  mother  will  not  permit  me.  Miss  Kent  wishes 
you  to  know  she  remembers  you  with  interest,  and 
hopes  to  hear  you  sing  again.  The  stranger  who 
preached  at  St.  Hyacinth's  has  not  forgotten  the 
poem  he  promised  you,  and  will  bring  it  soon.  I 
saw  him  last  night.  Now,  I  must  say  good-bye  for 
to-day.  Don't  try  to  speak,  I  understand  every 
thing." 

Silently  Mrs.  Dane  followed  him  to  the  door. 
Across  the  threshold,  he  turned  and  lowered  his 
voice. 

"  A  sea  voyage  is  the  only  thing  that  will  prolong 
his  life.  With  your  consent,  it  can  be  arranged  at 
once." 

She  shook  her  head. 

"  Madam,  I  find  I  must  revise  my  ideals  of  mater 
nal  devotion.  You  punish  your  innocent  child  for 
the  sins  of  those  who  blighted  your  youth?  You 
harangue  a  rabble  in  favor  of  '  justice  '  and  deny  it 
to  a  dying  boy." 

She  caught  her  breath,  leaned  against  the  wall,  and 
covered  her  face  with  her  hands.  When  he  saw  it 
again  the  color  had  ebbed,  the  lovely  eyes  were  dark 
ened  by  unshed  tears,  and  the  lips  were  beyond  her 
control. 

"  My  baby — my  fatherless  little  one !  Ever  since 
he  was  born  I  have  struggled  so  hard  to  keep  his 
mother's  name  clean — his  mother's  name,  all  he  had 
— clean  and  beyond  reproach !  Do  you  suppose  that 
now,  at  the  last,  I  would  put  myself  under  obligation 
to  a  rich  man?  We  may  die  paupers,  he  and  I,  but 


A    SPECKLED    BIRD  115 

when  we  go  to  the  Potter's  Field — the  only  undis 
puted  land  labor  can  claim — we  go  free,  honest,  and 
unblemished,  and  if  there  was  a  God,  I  could  hold 
up  my  baby  and  demand  why  He  had  cursed  us  both 
in  our  innocence." 

"  I  am  sorry  that  the  circumstances  coloring  your 
life  have  destroyed  every  vestige  of  confidence  in 
man's  honor,  yet  I  have  no  alternative  but  to  accept 
your  decision,  and  I  wish  you  good  morning." 

He  lifted  his  hat,  and  had  gone  half  way  down  the 
stairs,  when  she  followed  and  touched  his  sleeve. 

"Idid  not  thank  you  for  much  goodness  to  my 
child,  but  I  do  want  to  say  I  am  not  ungrateful ;  only 
I  have  had  so  little  to  be  thankful  for,  I  don't  quite 
know  how  to  phrase  gratitude.  The  world  has  been 
so  hard  to  me  I  am  suspicious  of  every  rich  man  in 
your  social  circle.  You  see,  my  face  has  handicapped 
me  always " 

She  set  her  teeth  and  struck  one  palm  resentfully 
against  her  cheek,  and  the  passionate,  pent-up  cry  of 
years  of  suffering  broke  through  the  next  words. 

"  Yes,  my  face  has  been  my  curse,  and  it  was  the 
steel  trap  that  snapped  chains  on  me  when  I  was 
only  a  child.  Kindness  to  my  Leighton  is  the  one 
thing  that  touches  what  is  left  of  my  heart;  and 
how  do  you  suppose  I  can  bear  now  to  listen  to  his 
sobbing  yonder,  because  he  thinks  I  have  rudely 
driven  you  away?  Oh,  my  pretty  baby!  My  own 
beautiful  little  one!  Cast  out,  with  only  his  girl- 
mother  to  fight  for  him  against  this  cruel  world! 
And  now  if  I  lose  him,  if  my  all  is  taken  away  from 
me " 

She  wrung  her  hands,  and  the  blanched  face  was 
upturned  as  if  challenging  her  God. 


116  A    SPECKLED    BitiD 

"  Madam,  I  understand  fully,  and  I  intend  to  help 
your  boy ;  but  be  sure  I  shall  visit  him  when  you  are 
absent.  Tell  him  I  shall  come,  with  your  consent, 
while  he  is  alone;  and  some  day  I  think  you  will 
trust  me,  even  despite  the  fact  that  I  happen  to  have 
money.  Good-bye." 

He  held  out  his  hand,  but  she  seemed  not  to  see 
it,  and  as  she  turned  and  walked  wearily  up  the  steps 
he  went  down  to  his  carriage. 


CHAPTER    XI 

"  Miss  Kent,  it  is  quite  evident  that  you  do  not 
approve  of  us." 

"  Will  you  be  so  kind  as  to  explain  to  whom  '  us ' 
refers?" 

"  Our  great  social  world,  including  government, 
congressional  and  diplomatic  circles,  club  life,  and 
all  that  '  progress  '  stands  for.  Instead  of  moving 
abreast  with  the  '  advance  '  current,  you  have  drifted 
aside  into  an  eddy  as  contracted,  as  pitiably  narrow 
as — pardon  me,  we  emancipated  new  women  dare 
now  to  speak  the  brazen  truth — as  narrow  as  the 
hands  and  feet  you  Southerners  boast  as  sign  of  aris 
tocratic  blood." 

Eglah  lifted  her  grey-gloved  hand,  examined  its 
outlines  critically,  and  placed  it  within  a  few  inches 
of  the  broad,  thick  palm  which  Ethelberta  Higgin- 
bottom  had  laid  on  her  own  lap  as  she  sat  in  the  gal 
lery  of  the  Senate  chamber. 

"  Thank  you  very  much,  Miss  Higginbottom.  It 
is  traditional  in  my  family  to  admire  slender  fingers, 
but  we  are  not  so  intolerant  as  to  deny  others  the 
privilege  of  occupying  as  much  space  as  their  digits 
can  cover,  and  we  never  brand  people  as  absolutely 
disreputable  because  they  wear  number  six  shoes  and 
number  seven-and-a-half  gloves.  If  degrees  of  lati 
tude  determine  the  height  of  insteps,  what  manifest 
injustice  has  been  meted  out  to  longitudinal  lines  that 
you  Westerners  so  proudly  claim?  Probably  you 


118  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

have  forgotten  that  my  father  is  from  New  England, 
and  he  owns  a  silver  caddy — two  hundred  years  old — 
that  was  empty  at  one  time  because  '  fish  drank  tea 
in  Boston  harbor.' ' 

"  Oh,  but  your  mother  was  Southern  and  you  rep 
resent  not  heredity,  but  sheredity,  a  sociological  fac 
tor  of  immense  potency,  which  must  be  reckoned 
with,  let  me  tell  you,  in  the  near  future,  when  women 
fully  emancipated  come  to  enjoyment  of  all  the  rights 
so  long  withheld  from  them.  Then  mothers,  and  not 
fathers  will  wield  the  destiny  of  this  great  country; 
and  already  female  colleges  are  fast  spreading  the 
blessed  gospel  of  free  and  equal  rights.  Last  week 

some  one  asserted  that  you  were  a  graduate  of 

College,  but  I  contradicted  it  flatly,  as  impossible 
and  absurd." 

"  I  am  sorry  I  do  my  dear  Alma  Mater  such  lam 
entable  discredit;  but,  unfortunately,  we  were  not 
taught  to  wear  our  diplomas  on  our  hats  as  advertise 
ments  of  scholarship." 

"  You  certainly  amaze  me !  " 

"  Perhaps  you  will  excuse  my  frankness  in  assur 
ing  you  that  sensation  at  least  is  mutual." 

"  With  your  educational  advantages,  to  lock  up 
your  mind  in  a  stockade  of  provincialism !  Desec- 
tionalize  yourself!  " 

"  May  I  ask  whether  you  spell  your  last  verb  with 
an  x  or  a  ct  ?  I  should  prefer  first  to  ascertain  which 
process  is  demanded  of  me." 

"  Your  Southern  bigotry  is  a  mill-stone  around 
your  neck.  The  very  word  '  emancipation  '  is  a  red 
rag  to  old  slaveholders  and  their  progeny.  You  never 
can  forgive  us  for  breaking  the  shackles  of  groaning 
millions  held  in  bondage." 


A    SPECKLED    BIRD  119 

Eglah  laughed. 

"  Pardon  me,  but  it  certainly  is  ludicrous  that  one 
possessing  your  '  broad  culture  and  desectionalized  ' 
horizon  of  thought  should  really  believe  in  that  old 
worn-out  '  raw-head  and  bloody-bones '  figure  of 
speech  which  has  done  duty  so  long.  It  surely  is  en 
titled  to  decent  interment  where  all  dilapidated  scare 
crows  cease  from  troubling.  We  Southern  people  no 
more  want  our  negroes  back  as  slaves  than  you  de 
sire  the  return  of  hordes  of  Indians  whom  you  so 
completely  dispossessed  of  their  native  lands  in  your 
'  wild  and  rapacious  West/  and  whom  a  '  white, 
fatherly '  government  is  rapidly  reducing  to  extinc 
tion  by  its  beneficent  agencies.  The  white  South  is 
'  emancipated  '  from  the  moral  responsibility  of  ele 
vating  the  black  race  now  so  happy  in  '  national ' 
tutelage,  where  their  guardians  taught  them  the  sys 
tem  of  bookkeeping  and  all  the  subtle  processes  of 
the  '  Freedmen's  Bureau.' ' 

"  How  lonely  you  must  feel  in  Washington.  You 
have  no  more  regard  for  the  rights  of  your  own  sex 
than  for — "  She  stammered  and  coughed. 

"  Indeed,  I  have  the  most  affectionate  and  jealous 
regard  for  every  right  that  inheres  in  my  dower  of 
American  womanhood.  I  claim  and  enjoy  the  right 
to  be  as  'cultured,  as  learned,  as  useful,  and — if  you 
please — as  ornamental  in  society  and  at  home  as  my 
individual  limitations  will  permit.  I  have  no  wrongs, 
no  grievances,  no  crying  need  to  usurp  lines  of  work 
that  will  break  down  the  barriers  God  set  between 
men  and  women.  I  am  not  in  rebellion  against  legal 
statutes,  nor  the  canons  of  well-established  decency 
and  refinement  in  feminine  usage,  and,  finally,  I  am 
so  inordinately  proud  of  being  a  well-born  Southern 


120  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

woman,  with  a  full  complement  of  honorable  great 
grandfathers  and  blue-blooded,  stainless  great-grand 
mothers,  that  I  have  neither  pretext  nor  inclination 
to  revolt  against  mankind." 

"  Miss  Kent,  you  have  rather  pretty  eyes,  but  you 
are  so  steeped  in  Southern — what  do  you  call  it — 
dolce  far  niente,  or  laissez  faire,  or  semi-stagnation  of 
soul  that  you  are  too  lazy  to  open  them  wide  enough 
to  see  the  thrilling  vista  of  woman's  triumph  that  illu 
mines " 

"  Thank  you;  my  much  flattered  eyes  are  suffi 
ciently  open  at  this  moment  to  perceive  the  behavior 
of  that  nondescript  creature  in  feminine  garments 
who  is  flirting  so  undisguisedly  with  Senator  Small- 
weed  yonder,  on  your  right;  one  of  the  early  eman 
cipated — an  advanced  lobbyist." 

"  You  mean  that  piquant,  charming  little  Mrs. 
Morrison  ?  Dear  soul !  She  is  a  pathetically  tragic 
object  lesson.  Had  to  get  a  divorce  from  a  brutal 
husband  and  become  a  bread-winner.  Why  should 
not  women  lobby?  They  are  so  nimble  witted,  nature 
fitted  them  admirably  for  such  work." 

"  And  gave  them  the  adroitly  nimble  fingers  to  fit 
the  pockets  they  pick." 

"  That  is  some  cowardly  man's  cruel  slander.  My 
creed  is  always  to  defend  my  own  sex;  it  is  only 
Christian  charity  and  genuine  feminine  justice." 

"  Provided  it  be  not  merely  lax  morality.  Some 
times  the  distinction  is  not  clear  to  very  '  advanced,' 
zealous  people." 

"  At  least  your  father  does  not  share  your  nar 
row  harshness.  He  and  Mrs.  Morrison  are  quite 
*  chummy,'  and  I  happen  to  know  he  sees  her  often." 

"  How  could  he  avoid  it  ?     Shoals  of  sharks  swim 


A    SPECKLED    BIRD  121 

in  Washington,  and  since  your  friend  belongs  to  the 
'  emancipated '  variety,  doubtless  she  indulges  an 
*  elective  affinity '  for  the  largest  senatorial  prey  in 
sight,  and  hungrily  shadows  him.  Yesterday  that 
'  Bison  Head  '  bill  she  is  working  for  came  to  grief 
in  committee,  and  will  be  buried  to-day.  Even  sharks 
occasionally  miss  a  meal." 

"  Oh,  you  are  not  up  to  date !  Before  the  decision 
was  announced  one  of  the  committee  weakened,  asked 
for  reconsideration ;  another  hurried  meeting  .  was 
held  last  night,  and  the  bill  will  not  be  reported  this 
session.  Not  killed  you  understand,  just  tenderly 
pigeon-holed,  securely  wrapped  up  in  parliamentary 
camphor  to  scare  away  opposition  moths,  and  allowed 
to  sleep  while  its  pretty  guardian  angel  has  another 
session  in  which  to  smooth  the  way  for  its  final  pas 
sage." 

At  this  moment  a  messenger  boy  brought  a  note 
to  Miss  Higginbottom,  and  Eglah  rose. 

"  You  do  not  suspect  who  the  weakening  member 
was?" 

"  If  I  cared  to  ask,  I  dare  say  your  fair  divorcee 
friend  would  be  able  to  enlighten  me,  but  the  petty 
political  schemes  engineered  by  lobbyists  do  not  in 
terest  me." 

"  One  moment,  Miss  Kent.  You  did  not  come  to 
my  musicale.  I  have  only  one  olive  twig  left.  We 
entertain  a  few  friends  to-morrow  night  in  honor  of 
a  famous  Western  woman,  who  will  lecture  next  sea 
son  on  '  Civic  Problems/  for  the  purpose  of  raising 
money  to  build  a  vast,  up-to-date  club  temple,  where 
women  can  proclaim  their  views  on  female  right  to 
suffrage  and  expansion.  May  I  have  the  pleasure  of 
presenting  you?  " 


122  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

"  You  are  very  kind,  Miss  Higginbottom,  but  as 
we  leave  Washington  at  the  end  of  the  week,  I  regret 
that  I  shall  not  have  time  for  any  new  engagements. 
Pray  accept  my  thanks  for  several  courtesies." 

"  I  used  to  wonder  why  you  are  so  unpopular,  but 
it  soon  ceased  to  be  a  mystery,  and  it  will  be  no  sacri 
fice  to  you  to  give  up  Washington,  in  retiring  from 
public  life.  When  Senator  Kent  formally  resigns — 
as  is  the  burden  of  a  little  bird's  song  that  utters  no 
false  notes — he  will,  doubtless,  consign  you  to  a  more 
congenial  circle  of  friends." 

"  In  saying  good-bye,  I  shall  find  some  solace  in  the 
assurance  that  at  least  you  will  not  mourn  inconsol- 
ably  because  of  my  final  departure.  Please  present 
my  best  wishes  to  Mrs.  Higginbottom,  who  has 
shown  me  much  kindness,  and  whom  I  may  not  be 
able  to  see  again.  Good-bye." 

She  stood  a  few  seconds,  smiling  mischievously 
into  the  florid  face  of  the  large-featured  woman  of 
most  certain  age,  whose  light-yellow  eyes  flashed 
back  unmistakable  malice,  then,  amid  the  roar  of  ap 
plause  that  greeted  the  peroration  of  a  white-haired 
senator  in  the  chamber  below,  she  quietly  stole  out 
of  the  Capitol,  and  sought  a  favorite  corner  of  the 
Smithsonian  grounds. 

Walking  slowly,  she  asked  in  a  spirit  of  self-chas 
tisement  why  she  had  allowed  waspish  stings  to  pro 
voke  a  retaliatory  tone,  at  variance  with  that  cool  re 
pose  of  well-bred  urbanity  and  imperturbable  cour 
tesy  on  which  she  prided  herself;  and  was  not  the 
condescension  of  retort  an  unladylike  and  mortifying 
weakness  ? 

Now  and  then  come  radiant  days  when  a  noon  sun 
shines  hot,  and  no  faintest  film  flecks  the  stainless 


A    SPECKLED    BIRD  123 

blue,  yet  one  grows  vaguely  conscious  of  waning 
brightness,  and  gradually  the  horizon  blanches  to  a 
deadly  grey,  while  leaden  clouds  creep  into  view  like 
spectral  fingers  of  some  vast  hand  groping  across  the 
sky  to  smother  the  sun.  Shadows  projected  by  the 
invisible  unnerve  natures  that  fearlessly  face  tangible, 
well-defined  danger,  as  '  the  sallow,  weird  light  pre 
ceding  an  eclipse  is  more  menacing  than  its  total 
darkness,  where  friendly  stars  still  shine.'  For  Eg- 
lah,  the  clock  of  fate  had  begun  to  chime  that  mauvais 
quart  d'heure  which  Mrs.  Maurice  had  known  would 
inevitably  overtake  her,  and  the  preliminary  whirring 
of  the  hidden  cogs  had  found  her  unprepared.  Blind 
faith  in  her  father's  sagacity,  political  steadfastness, 
and  incorruptibility,  had  built  a  pedestal  from  which 
he  smiled  down  benignantly  upon  her,  making  life  a 
festival ;  but  when  the  needle  of  doubt  pricked  the  fine 
veil  love  spun  across  her  vision,  and  she  dared  allow 
herself  to  question,  a  shivering  and  nameless  dread 
shook  her  happy  young  heart,  as  unexpectedly  blight 
ing  as  a  shower  of  sleet  on  an  August  passion-flower. 
When  Jove  nods  his  worship  wanes. 

Since  the  night  of  the  cotillon,  several  inexplicable 
circumstances,  comparatively  slight  yet  cumulative, 
had  perplexed  this  fond  and  loyal  daughter,  who  be 
gan  to  find  the  maze  of  Senator  Kent's  political  meth 
ods  too  tortuous  for  her  exploration. 

Startled  by  his  abrupt  reversal  of  judgment  on 
more  than  one  important  question  involving  party 
allegiance,  she  had  sought  an  explanation,  which  he 
laughingly  evaded,  and,  when  she  pressed  the  matter, 
his  avoidance  was  marked  by  an  irritability  of  speech 
and  gesture  hitherto  unknown  in  the  domestic  circle. 
The  undisguised  graciousness  of  his  demeanor  toward 


124  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

Mrs.  Morrison  had  surprised  and  annoyed  her,  and 
she  was  painfully  astonished  by  his  efforts  to  con 
ciliate  Senator  Higginbottom,  who  belonged  to  the 
opposite  party,  and  was  a  loud,  aggressive,  and  hir 
sute  apostle  of  the  silver  gospel  so  dear  to  his  con 
stituency,  and  so  conducive  to  his  individual  interest 
as  a  mine  owner.  Mrs.  Higginbottom,  a  plain,  kind- 
hearted,  motherly  old  woman,  who  knew  much  more 
of  sheep-shearing  and  beehives  than  of  fashionable 
etiquette  and  diplomatic  technicalities,  Eglah  had 
found  it  possible  to  receive  cordially,  but  the  daugh 
ter,  Ethelberta,  was  an  intolerable  offence  to  all  her 
feminine  instincts,  and  when  Judge  Kent  insisted, 
with  some  asperity,  that  the  "  Higginbottoms  must 
be  cultivated,"  the  ordeal  of  playing  hostess  to  this 
"  advanced  and  emancipated  new  woman  "  proved 
peculiarly  unpleasant.  A  certain  watchful  restless 
ness  in  her  father's  manner  did  not  escape  her  notice, 
nor  the  recent  accession  of  sphinx-like  non-commit- 
talism  in  Mr.  Metcalf,  and  she  pondered  uneasily  a 
question  of  Mrs.  Mitchell's: 

"  Dearie,  did  it  ever  occur  to  you  that  in  some  way 
Judge  Kent  seems  rather  afraid  of  Mr.  Herriott,  or 
perhaps  I  should  say  is  always  so  guarded  in  his  pres 
ence?" 

"  Never !  Impossible  and  absurd.  He  has  su 
preme  confidence  in  him,  and  once,  not  long  ago,  he 
scolded  me  sharply  because  I  could  not  consider  him 
head  and  shoulders  above  all  other  men." 

The  session  of  Congress  was  within  two  days  of  its 
close,  and  that  morning,  as  Senator  Kent  rose  from 
an  untasted  breakfast,  he  astounded  Eglah  and  Eliza 
by  the  ejaculation,  "  God  knows,  I  shall  be  glad  to 
get  out  of  this  grind !  " 


A    SPECKLED    BIRD  125 

Fearing  sickness  had  robbed  him  of  his  appetite, 
Eglah  followed  him  to  the  library,  but  he  waved  her 
back. 

"  Metcalf  is  waiting  to  show  me  a  paper,  and  I 
must  not  be  interrupted.  My  dear,  my  time  is  not 
my  own — even  for  you." 

Hitherto  she  had  never  been  an  interruption,  and 
it  seemed  as  if  some  iron  door  was  shut  suddenly 
between  her  life  and  his.  "  The  Bison  Head  "  pur 
chase  bill,  for  which  Mrs.  Morrison  flitted  to  and  fro, 
had  been  fought  by  Senator  Kent  in  committee  room, 
where  the  contest  was  close,  but  Senator  Higgin- 
bottom  was  chairman,  and  when  Miss  Ethelberta  an 
nounced  that  a  member  had  "  weakened  "  and  the 
bill  might  be  saved  by  postponement,  Eglah  knew 
who  had  changed  front,  and  she  began  to  realize  how 
ancient  pilgrims  felt  when,  at  Delphi,  the  oracle  said 
no  to-day  and  yes  to-morrow.  Idolatrous  habit  was 
strong;  the  pedestal  trembled,  but  it  was  a  far  cry 
to  its  overthrow,  and  she  wrestled  stubbornly  to  de 
fend  inconsistencies  that  humiliated  and  staggered 
her.  Time,  the  master  magician,  would  perhaps 
show  her  the  Senator's  reasons  woven  into  a  crown 
of  laurel — as  unexpected  as  the  garland  of  glowing 
roses  that  spring  out  of  a  naked  sword  blade,  at  the 
gesture  of  a  juggler.  To-day  she  recalled  her  grand 
mother's  softened  face  with  eyes  of  tender  compas 
sion  on  that  morning  when  the  news  of  the  second 
marriage  had  been  brought  to  Nutwood.  After 
all,  was  there  just  cause  for  the  old  lady's  contempt 

and  aversion,  and  were  the  rumors  rife  in  Y 

shadows  of  grim  and  disgraceful  facts  that  must  cling 
to  her  father's  name,  fateful  as  the  philter  of  Nessus? 
The  thought  stifled  her,  and  she  put  her  hand  to  her 


126  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

throat  with  the  old  childish  habit  that  always  betrayed 
intolerable  pain.  She  could  not  go  home — must  not 
meet  Eliza's  eyes  until  she  strangled  this  crouching 
horror.  Through  the  Smithsonian  she  wandered, 
apparently  examining  its  treasures,  but  now  she  saw 
only  the  pitying  countenance  of  her  grandmother, 
and  now  the  malicious  triumph  in  Miss  Higginbot- 
tom's  eyes,  as  she  exulted  in  some  impending  mis 
fortune.  "  Formal  resignation  " — adumbrated  by 
more  than  one  innuendo — portended  the  summary 
collapse  of  a  political  career  that  she  had  believed 
would  culminate  in  elevation  to  a  Cabinet  seat  during 
the  next  administration.  For  her,  obstinate  confi 
dence  was  to-day  the  sole  refuge,  and  she  set  her 
teeth  as  she  verified  Mrs.  Maurice's  prediction  : 
"  "  Though  he  slay  me,  yet  will  I  trust  him.'  My 
own  father  cannot  betray  the  faith  of  his  loyal  child." 

Dreading  Eliza's  scrutiny,  it  was  with  a  feeling  of 
temporary  relief  that  she  recollected  an  engagement 
to  attend  a  "  lawn  party  "  held  that  afternoon  at  a 
residence  whose  owner  was  laboring  to  raise  an  en 
dowment  fund  for  a  local  charity.  When  she  reached 
home,  a  change  of  costume  gave  time  to  marshal  all 
her  defensive  forces;  and,  as  she  came  downstairs  to 
join  her  waiting  chaperon,  Mrs.  Mitchell  forbore  to 
comment  on  the  unusual  color  that  burned  in  her 
cheeks. 

"  Little  mother,  don't  sit  up  for  me.  I  promised 
Mrs.  Ellerbee  to  assist  at  the  flower  table,  and  may 
be  kept  late.  Be  sure  you  get  your  beauty  sleep." 

Dinner  was  delayed  an  hour  beyond  the  usual  time, 
but  Senator  Kent  did  not  appear,  and  as  such  devia 
tions  from  domestic  rule  had  recently  occurred  often, 
and  were  explained  by  congestion  of  business  at  the 


A    SPECKLED    BIRD  127 

Capitol,  incident  to  approaching  adjournment,  Mrs. 
Mitchell  took  her  meal  alone.  It  was  prayer-meeting 
evening  at  the  Methodist  Church  in  her  neighbor 
hood,  and,  after  the  exercises  ended,  she  walked 
home,  took  up  a  magazine,  and  tried  unsuccessfully 
to  read.  The  political  atmosphere  was  so  charged 
with  electricity  that  she  felt  a  crisis  was  imminent, 
and  only  the  extent  of  the  storm  was  conjectural. 
How  much  Eglah  suspected  the  foster-mother  merely 
surmised,  because  some  inexplicable  barrier  seemed, 
within  the  past  fortnight,  built  up  to  limit  their  free 
interchange  of  thought.  It  was  a  sultry,  sombre 
night;  city  walls  and  pavements  sent  up  their  gar 
nered  heat  in  quivering  waves,  and  the  stars  were 
blurred  and  faint  as  they  retreated  behind  a  dim  haze 
that  was  not  mist.  At  eleven  o'clock  the  street  cor 
ner  light  showed  her  Senator  Kent  walking  rapidly. 
She  went  into  the  dining-room  to  arrange  the  salad 
and  cold  tea  he  always  enjoyed  after  missing  his  din 
ner,  and  while  he  lingered  in  the  hall  Eglah  returned. 
She  was  bare-headed,  very  pale,  and  her  lips  fluttered, 
but  a  brave,  tender  smile  lighted  her  eyes,  and  she 
put  her  arms  about  his  neck  and  kissed  him  twice. 

"  How  tired  you  poor  national  Solons  must  be ! 
But  I  know  one  whose  day's  work  is  not  yet  ended, 
and  who  must  pick  a  whole  flock  of  crows  with  me, 
right  now.  Why  did  you  change  your  vote  on  the 
'  Bison  Head  '  purchase?  " 

"Who  says  I  did?" 

His  face  was  deeply  flushed,  but  he  laughed  and 
pinched  her  white  cheek. 

"  The  chairman  has  a  daughter." 

"  A  leaky  gossip.    Congressmen  ought  to  be  bach- 


128  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

elors  or  childless  widowers;  but  then,  my  dear,  how 
could  I  possibly  exist  without  you  ?  " 

"  FatKer,  what  induced  you  to  favor  a  measure  you 
have  condemned  so  emphatically?  '' 

"  Several  good  reasons  I  am  much  too  tired  to  dis 
cuss.  Don't  forget  your  Emerson,  who  says  *  a  fool 
ish  consistency  is  the  hobgoblin  of  little  minds,  adored 
by  little  statesmen,'  and  remember,  also,  '  a  wise  man 
sometimes  changes  his  mind,  a  fool  never.'  The  bill 
will  not  be  reported  till  next  session,  and  conditions 
alter,  so  apres  moi  le  deluge! " 

She  walked  toward  the  dining-room,  and  on  the 
threshold  Eliza  saw  her  put  both  hands  to  her  throat. 
Drawing  her  breath  quickly,  she  turned  back  and 
threw  her  arms  around  him. 

"  Oh,  father !  Was  it  kind,  was  it  merciful  to  let 
me  learn  by  chance  from  strangers  that  you  have 
determined  to  resign  your  senatorship,  to  end  a 
glorious  career  in  which  you  know  my  dearest  hopes 
and  pride  centre?  " 

For  a  moment  he  made  no  reply,  only  clasped  her 
closely,  pillowed  her  head  on  his  breast,  and  kissed 
her  cold  cheek  repeatedly. 

Then  he  spoke  in  a  husky  tone,  as  a  nervous  sur 
geon  might,  uncertain  of  his  own  diagnosis. 

"  My  darling  girl,  I  confess  it  was  a  cowardly  dread 
of  the  pain  I  knew  my  decision  would  cause  you,  and 
I  very  weakly  put  off  the  evil  day  as  long  as  possible. 
Immediately  after  adjournment  I  intended  to  tell 
you  all  the  plans  that  seem  best  for  our  future,  and 
did  not  anticipate  this  premature  disclosure,  which  is 
presumptuous  impertinence  in  its  author.  In  quit 
ting  public  life  even  temporarily,  my  brightest  com 
pensation  is  the  prospect  of  spending  my  time  in  the 


A    SPECKLED   BIRD  129 

sweet  companionship  of  my  precious,  incomparable 
daughter.  Forgive  your  old  father  the  arrant  cow 
ardice  of  keeping  silent  for  a  few  days." 

She  clung  to  him  like  a  frightened  child,  and  he 
felt  her  trembling  as  one  in  an  ague. 

"  Why  must  you  resign  ?  Why  step  down  when 
you  have  a  right  to  expect  the  new  administration 
will  offer  you  a  place  in  the  Cabinet?  Why?  Don't 
keep  back  anything  from  me  now." 

"  My  love,  I  don't  wish  to  distress  you ;  I  shrink 
from  exciting  any  alarm,  but  you  certainly  have  a 
right  to  the  truth.  My  health  does  not  permit  the 
amount  of  canvassing  work  that  I  believe  will  be  re 
quired  for  my  re-election,  because  our  State  legisla 
ture  \vill  be  much  divided  this  presidential  campaign 
over  vital  issues,  both  local  and  national.  As  my 
term  expires  soon,  I  think  it  best  to  resign  now,  .and 
avoid  grave  complications  that  threaten  our  party  or 
ganization  in  the  State  legislature.  Recently  I  have 
had  premonitions  that  drove  me  to  consult  Dr.  McLe- 
more,  and  he  advises  me  to  withdraw  from  active  po 
litical  life,  at  least  for  a  season.  He  believes  complete 
rest  and  freedom  from  public  responsibility  are  all 
that  my  health  demands.  I  did  not  wish  you  to  know 
this,  but  you  are  such  an  inquisitive  monkey,  such  an 
arbitrary  minx,  that  nothing  less  than  the  whole  truth 
will  satisfy  your  exacting  reason.  Now  kiss  me,  my 
pretty  chestnut  burr,  and  let  us  pick  no  more  crows." 

'  You  have  been  ill,  and  we — I — never  suspected 
it?" 

She  caught  her  breath  spasmodically,  stifling  a  sob. 
Her  father  glanced  significantly  at  Eliza,  who  stood 
beside  the  table,  lifting  a  pitcher  of  iced  tea  that 
clinked  against  its  sides  in  her  nervous  grasp. 


130  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

"  I  see  Mrs.  Mitchell — always  admirably  reliable — 
has  kept  her  promise  to  me.  Now  she  can  tell  you 
I  had  a  very  severe  attack  the  night  we  were  so  late 

at  Secretary  P 's  dinner,  and  you  could  not 

understand  my  delay  in  dressing." 

"  Ma-Lila !  You  kept  me  in  ignorance  of  father's 
danger,  when  you  should  have  warned  me?  " 

"  Your  father  positively  forbade  any  mention  of 
the  matter  to  you,  and  as  I  never  saw  or  heard  of  a 
recurrence  of  what  he  assured  me  was  merely  the  re 
sult  of  imprudent  indulgence  in  oysters,  cheese,  and 
beer,  I  had  no  excuse  for  disobeying  his  command  to 
keep  silence." 

The  little  woman's  eyes  sparkled,  and  an  involun 
tary  curl  of  her  lip  did  not  escape  Eglah's  question 
ing  sorrowful  gaze. 

"  Come,  my  dear,  do  not  quite  strangle  what  is  left 
of  a  very  tired  old  man.  Now  that  explanations  are 
completely  over,  I  feel  as  happy  as  a  boy  just  returned 
from  the  dentist's  where  he  left  an  aching  tooth ;  and 
since  you  know  absolutely  all  that  can  be  told,  I 
should  like  some  tea  dashed  with  cognac,  for  I  have 
had  a  hard,  tedious  day." 

He  unwound  her  arms,  patted  her  head,  and  took 
his  seat  at  the  table. 

Eglah  squeezed  a  lemon  into  a  goblet  of  tea,  Eliza 
stirred  the  mayonnaise,  and  Judge  Kent  helped  him 
self  to  an  anchovy  sandwich,  while  he  asked  whether 
they  had  heard  the  sad  news  of  the  sudden  death  of 
a  popular  attache  of  one  of  the  legations,  who  had 
been  killed  an  hour  before  by  the  accidental  dis 
charge  of  his  own  pistol.  Heroic  efforts  were  made 
by  all  to  avoid  the  disturbing  theme  upon  which  the 
Senator  had  peremptorily  rung  down  the  curtain,  and 


A    SPECKLED    BIRD  131 

to  relieve  the  tension  the  trio  separated  as  soon  as 
possible. 

How  much  of  the  perfunctory  explanation  either 
woman  credited  neither  could  determine,  but  each 
refrained  from  probing  the  other,  and  both  endeav 
ored  to  bridge  the  crater  by  that  golden  silence  that 
knows  no  pangs  of  regretted  speech.  Lying  wide 
awake,  Mrs.  Mitchell  noted  the  slow  passage  of  the 
heavy  hours,  and  day  was  just  below  the  eastern  sky 
line  when  the  sudden  shrill  trilling  of  a  canary  in  the 
adjoining  room  told  that  some  restless  movement  of 
Eglah's  had  aroused  it.  Eliza  longed  to  go  and  com 
fort  the  suffering  girl,  but  every  heart  has  a  sanctuary 
which  not  even  the  tenderest  affection  should  dare  to 
violate,  and  the  subtle  sympathy  of  the  overseer's  wife 
taught  her  love's  duty  was  to  guard,  not  force  the 
entrance.  After  a  feAv  moments,  Eglah  opened  the 
door  and  came  on  tiptoe  to  her  bed. 

"  What  is  it,  dearie  ?  Nobody  can  sleep  on  such 
a  suffocating  night." 

She  sat  up  and  put  one  arm  around  the  white 
figure,  which,  instead  of  yielding  to  her  clasp,  held 
back  straight  and  stiff  as  steel. 

"  I  thought  I  heard  you  stir,  else  I  should  not  have 
ventured  to  disturb  you.  Ma-Lila,  the  thought  of 
father's  ill  health  weighs  terribly  on  my  heart.  Will 
you  please  tell  me  the  nature  of  that  attack  which 
you  both  kept  from  me?  What  were  the  symp 
toms?" 

"  He  had  been  dozing  in  his  chair,  and  quite  sud 
denly  sprang  up,  pale,  and  evidently  much  agitated. 
I  wished  to  call  you,  and  urged  him  to  abandon  the 
idea  of  leaving  the  house,  but  he  insisted  I  should  not 
give  you  even  a  hint,  and  asked  for  the  decanter  of 


132  A   SPECKLED  BIRD 

brandy,  which  he  was  sure  would  relieve  a  severe  fit 
of  indigestion  caused  by  imprudence  at  luncheon.  He 
went  to  his  room,  and  when  he  came  out  you  saw  no 
sign  of  serious  indisposition." 

"  He  had  been  annoyed  by  no  visitors?  " 

"  He  had  seen  no  one  but  Watson  and  myself." 

"  Do  you  think  there  was  heart  trouble  that  night  ? 
Tell  me  frankly." 

"  Yes,  most  certainly  there  was ;  but,  my  baby, 
heart  trouble  comes  from  various  causes,  and  I  really 
do  not  think  your  father's  physical  condition  justifies 
any  serious  uneasiness.  He  is  evidently  alarmed,  but 
nervous  strain  and  mental  worry  are  sufficient  to  pro 
duce  all  his  symptoms,  and  you  will  find  that  retire 
ment  from  congressional  complications  expedites  re 
covery  in  such  cases." 

The  girlish  form  relaxed,  and  a  hot  cheek  was 
pressed  against  the  foster-mother's  face. 

"  Don't  comfort  me  with  false  hopes,  unless  you  are 
sure  I  am  unduly  frightened." 

"  Listen  to  me.  I  am  absolutely  certain  that  Judge 
Kent's  health  need  cause  you  no  alarm  in  future. 
Now,  shake  off  that  nightmare,  and  go  to  sleep  like  a 
good  child,  or  I  will  certainly  dose  youwith  bromide." 

She  kissed  her  softly,  and  with  an  arm  about  her 
waist  led  her  back  to  her  bed. 

"  Ma-Lila,  I  want  to  forget  the  last  three  weeks. 
Won't  you  help  me  ?  " 


CHAPTER    XII 

"  What  is  the  urgent  necessity?  I  have  just  held 
my  afternoon  mission  service,  "and  I  am  very  tired. 
Noel,  why  are  you  so  insistent  ?  " 

"  Perhaps  it  has  been  borne  in  upon  my  '  sublimi 
nal  consciousness  '  that  if  you  wait  too  long  you  may 
possibly  regret  it.  Once  or  twice  I  have  found  profit 
in  following  a  rule  my  old  nurse  taught  me  when  I 
wore  kilts :  '  Never  put  off  till  to-morrow  what  you 
can  do  to-day.'  No  '  daemon  '  squats  at  my  ear,  and 
I  claim  no  mantic  illumination,  still  I  should  be  glad 
to  know  you  will  make  that  visit  at  once." 

"  You  fear  the  poor  boy  is  dying?  " 

"  Not  immediately,  but  he  appears  hopelessly  ill, 
and  needs  all  the  kind  words  you  may  find  yourself 
better  able  to  utter  than  any  one  else.  Moreover,  it 
would  be  well  that  you  should  see  his  mother,  who  is 
away  at  work  during  the  week,  and  as  you  expect  to 
leave  the  city  so  soon,  this  will  be  the  most  suitable 
opportunity  for  you  to  meet  her  at  home.  Poor, 
fierce,  bitter  soul !  She  has  no  milk  of  human  kind 
ness  left;  it  soured  and  has  become  acrid — intensely 
mordacious." 

"  She  belongs  then  to  the  unhappy  class  of  frail 
women  who  go  swiftly  to  utter  wreck  in  all  large 
cities,  where  sin  is  arrayed  in  rose  color  and  gilt. 
Strange  that  the  boy  of  such  a  creature  should  remind 
one  of  the  infant  St.  John  or  a  seraph  of  Angelico's." 

"  Some  fragments  of  her  history  lead  me  to  believe 


134  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

that  she  is  as  trustworthy  and  pure  as  any  woman  to 
whom  you  preach.  Her  morality  is  beyond  cavil,  but 
theoretically  she  seems  to  have  gone  wild  among  the 
hedges  and  ditches  of  socialism." 

"  You  consider  her  a  conscientious,  good  woman?" 

"  As  far  as  I  can  ascertain  she  lives  irreproachably, 
bar  associating  with  anarchists.  I  surmise  some  man 
has  treated  her  cruelly,  or  she  thinks  so,  and  now 
she " 

Mr.  Herriott  rose,  looked  at  his  watch,  and 
laughed. 

"  Temple,  do  you  recollect  one  summer  night 
under  the  elms,  when  rehearsing  for  the  Greek  play, 
Prescott  Winthrop  declaimed  the  herdsman's  mes 
sage  from  the  '  Bacchse,'  and  emphasized  the  portrait 
of  Agave  in  the  frenzy  of  the  Thiasus  strangling  a 
calf  and  fondling  a  wolf's  whelp?  To-day  Leigh- 
ton's  mother  recalled  that  scene,  but  she  is  not  danc 
ing  to  meet  Bromius — only  hunting  revenge  on  all 
mankind.  Ah,  you  are  going?  I  suggest  a  cautious 
approach.  Leave  the  carriage  out  of  sight,  and  boldly 
flourish  the  promised  book  as  an  open  sesame.  You 
of  the  cassock  clan  enjoy  privileges  denied  to  us,  the 
ungirdled  sons  of  Belial.  After  all,  you  may  prove 
the  deus  ex  machina,  and  through  the  poor  little  lad 
may  be  able  to  lay  a  healing  touch  on  the  mother's 
sick  soul.  Come  to  my  rooms  after  your  visit,  and 
we  will  say  good-bye  until  I  get  back  from  my  long 
jaunt." 

An  hour  later  Father  Temple  made  his  way  into 
the  tenement  house,  through  a  noisy  mob  of  chil 
dren  romping  on  the  pavement,  and  when  he  entered 
the  narrow  hall  outside  din  was  conquered  by  the 
deep,  swelling  music  of  "  Quis  est  Homo,"  wailing 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  135 

from  a  violoncello  held  between  the  knees  of  a  man 
sitting  half  way  up  the  stairs,  a  thin,  stooping  old 
figure  with  shaggy  grey  hair,  and  bearded  as  a  Welsh 
harper.  The  priest  ascended,  and  the  musician 
edged  closer  to  the  wall  to  allow  him  passage  way, 
but  he  merely  nodded  his  bowed  head,  and  the  sol 
emn  strains  rose  and  fell  like  the  sobbing  moan  of 
waves  settling  to  calm  after  lashing  blasts.  Father 
Temple  lifted  his  finger. 

"  Mrs.  Dane  lives  on  the  next  floor?  " 
"  Go  ub.     She  vill  see  no  briests,  but  her  door  is 
oben  for  de  child  to  hear  de  music  he  loves.     Dear 
leedle  boy  is  sick,  and  my  cello  sounds  more  better 
here  dan  closer." 

He  shut  his  eyes  and  continued  playing.  Oppo 
site  the  undraped  west  window  of  the  room  above,  an 
alley  stretched,  making  clear  pathway  for  the  sinking 
sun  that  poured  a  parting  flood  of  radiance  into  the 
apartment,  and  upon  the  cot  where,  propped  up  with 
pillows,  the  boy  clasped  his  arms  around  his  knees, 
and  listened,  quiet  and  happy.  Between  cot  and 
window  his  mother  sat,  facing  the  back  of  her  chair, 
on  top  of  which  she  rested  one  arm,  leaning  her  brow 
upon  it,  while  the  other  hand,  lying  on  the  cot,  slowly 
stroked  Leighton's  bare  feet.  Having  washed  her 
hair  earlier  in  the  day,  it  was  now  brushed  out  over 
her  shoulders  to  dry  in  the  sunshine,  and  the  bright 
mass  of  waving  tendrils  seemed  to  clothe  her  with 
light.  On  the  floor  were  scattered  several  newspaper 
sheets — "  The  Chain  Breaker  " — and  across  her  knee 
lay  an  open  copy  of  "Battle-cry  of  Labor."  Only 
the  mellow  voice  of  the  cello  sounded,  and  the  room 
was  sweet  with  the  breath  of  Mr.  Herriott's  white 
carnations  nodding  in  a  blue  bowl  on  the  table. 


136  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

Standing  a  moment  at  the  threshold,  Father  Temple's 
eyes  fastened  on  the  veil  of  golden  locks  falling  to 
the  floor,  and  his  heart  leaped,  then  seemed  to  cease 
beating  as  he  recalled  a  vision  of  the  far  West,  where 
just  such  glittering  strands  had  been  twined  around 
his  fingers. 

"  Oh,  my  St.  Hyacinth's  preacher !  " 

At  Leighton's  glad  cry  his  mother  raised  her  head, 
started  up,  and,  moving  forward  a  few  steps,  swept 
back  her  hair,  holding  it  with  both  hands.  Before 
her  stood  the  tall,  thin  figure  in  the  long,  black  habit 
of  his  Order,  cord-girded  at  the  waist;  with  a  soft 
wool  hat  and  book  in  one  hand ;  a  clean-shaven  face, 
pale,  sensitive,  scholarly,  and  suggestive  of  "  lauds 
and  prime,"  of  asceticism  without  peace,  and  of 
brooding  regret. 

He  recognized  every  line  in  her  lovely  features, 
from  the  large  pansy  eyes  and  delicate,  over-arching 
brows  to  the  perfect  oval  molding  of  cheek  and 
chin,  and  the  full,  downward  curve  of  scarlet  lips. 
Love  is  so  keen  of  vision  it  pierces  the  changes 
wrought  by  ripening  years,  and  he  knew  the  dear 
face.  She  did  not  suspect,  love  had  been  dead  so 
long,  and  she  had  buried  all  tender  memories  in  its 
neglected  grave. 

"  I  am  surprised  a  Romish  priest  wastes  his  time 
coming  here,  and  I  have  no  welcome  to  offer  you, 
because  I  wish  no  visitors." 

With  a  swift  movement  he  closed  the  door,  dropped 
hat  and  book,  and  came  close  to  her.  The  sudden 
glow  on  his  cheek,  the  light  of  exultation  in  his  sad 
eyes  transformed  him. 

"  Look  at  me.  Don't  you  know  me?  Look — 
look!" 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  137 

Eye  to  eye  they  watched  each  other,  and  at  the 
sound  of  his  deep,  tender,  quivering  voice  recollec 
tion  smote  hard  upon  her  heart,  and  a  vague,  shiver 
ing  pain  drove  the  blood  from  her  face,  but  she 
fought  the  suggestion. 

'  You  are  unknown  to  me." 

"  I  am  Vernon  Pembroke  Temple,  and  you  are 
Nona,  my  wife !  My  Nona — my  own  wife " 

Words  failed  him,  and  he  held  out  his  arms.  She 
recoiled,  throwing  up  her  hands  with  a  gesture  of 
loathing,  and  stood  as  if  turned  to  stone,  so  strangely 
hard  was  a  face  where  eyes  kindled  and  burned  with 
the  pent  hatred  and  scorn  of  long  years  of  sore  trial. 

'  You  had  not  sins  enough  to  sink  your  soul  with 
out  adding  hypocrisy  ?  A  preacher !  A  priest !  Cow 
ardice,  perjury,  moral  leprosy,  skulking  under  a  long 
cloak  as  black  as  what  is  left  of  your  vile  heart !  " 

Each  word  fell  like  a  red-hot  flail,  but  he  did  not 
wince,  and  neither  father  nor  mother  heard  the  low 
wail  from  the  cot  where  childish  arms  covered  a  face 
white  with  horror. 

'  You  think,  you  believe  I  intentionally  and  pre- 
meditatedly  deserted  you,  and  in  your  ignorance  of 
facts  you  certainly  had  cause  to  despise  me,  but " 

'''  Think — believe !  As  if  it  were  possible  to  doubt 
the  villainy  planned !  The  crime  you  so  carefully 
committed  against  a  mere  child,  knowing  she  was  a 
helpless  victim,  believing  she  could  never  redress  her 
awful  wrongs.  As  if  you  had  set  a  trap  and  caught 
an  innocent,  happy  bird,  and  then  broken  its  wings 
and  tossed  it  to  screaming  hawks !  Coward — coward 
as  you  always  were — how  dare  you  face  me  ?  " 

"  Nona,  dear  Nona—"     He  put  out  his  hand  ap- 


138  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

pealingly,  but  she  struck  it  aside  with  stinging  force, 
and  stepped  backward. 

"  Out  of  my  sight,  or  I  call  the  police." 
She  pointed  to  the  door.  He  turned,  locked  it, 
put  the  key  in  his  pocket,  and  his  eyes  steadily  met 
the  challenge  in  hers.  The  banked,  smouldering  fires 
that  flashed  up  must  burn  lower  before  he  could 
plead.  So  they  stood :  he  flushed,  smiling,  happy ;  she 
shaken  by  a  tempest  of  rage  that  blanched  her  to  a 
livid  pallor  and  set  all  the  glittering  rings  of  hair 
quivering,  as  if  innumerable  golden  serpents  coiled 
and  uncoiled  around  her  trembling  form. 

In  the  pause  he  lifted  the  hanging  ends  of  the 
knotted  cord. 

"  Do  you  understand  what  this  habit  means?  " 
"  Don't  I  ?  A  holy  cloak  to  hide  every  sin  that 
makes  this  world  a  hotter  hell  than  even  God  could 
fashion — if  God  were  possible.  You  drape  it  over 
the  ten  commandments,  blotting  them  out,  while  you 
sing  psalms,  and  rob  the  toiling  poor,  and  ruin  young 
lives,  and  murder  innocent  souls.  Oh,  yes,  to  my 
sorrow,  I  understand  all  it  means !  " 

"  It  means  my  consecration  to  celibacy  when  you 
fled  from  me,  and  I  had  exhausted  all  efforts  to  find 
you." 

"  Celibacy !  Celibacy !  I  needed  no  nunnery  to 
help  me  keep  clean  and  pure,  but  you  ran  behind 
monastery  walls  to  protect  yourself  from  retribution 
at  a  wronged  woman's  hands.  Coward  from  first  to 
last!  When  I  fled  from  you?  You  must  indeed  be 
possessed  of  the  devil  to  dare  such  language  to  me." 

"  Nona,  there  has  been  some  awful  mistake " 

"  Yes,  a  mistake  that  I  was  not  scalped,  or  that  a 
merciful  bolt  of  lightning  did  not  strike  me  dead  that 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  139 

day — that  cursed  day — when  first  I  set  my  eyes  on 
your  false,  treacherous  face !  If  you  could  only  know 
how  I  hate,  despise,  utterly  despise  the  bare  thought, 
much  more  the  horrible  sight  of  you !  " 

"  No  wonder,  since  circumstances  were  apparently 
all  against  me  at " 

"  Circumstances  are  no  shelter  for  honest,  honor 
able  men,  if  there  be  any  left;  and  the  hard,  bitter, 
murderous  facts  of  your  shameful  life  would  find  you 
out  if  you  dodged  under  the  very  throne  of  the  God 
you  blaspheme  by  professing!  " 

"  Will  you  listen  to  the  truth  ?  " 

"  You  could  not  speak  it  if  you  tried.  I  listened 
to  you  once  too  often,  and  you  wrecked  me,  and  I 
am  no  longer  a  fool." 

"  Why  did  you  leave  Thompsonville  after  you  re 
ceived  my  letters,  and  the  money  I  sent  you,  and  when 
you  knew  I  was  coming  there  to  take  you  away  with 
me?" 

For  an  instant  she  looked  at  him  with  startled  curi 
osity,  then  laughed  hysterically. 

"  I  left  Thompsonville  because  you  wrote  no  let 
ters,  sent  no  money,  and  took  no  notice  of  my  frantic 
appeals  for  help  in  my  hour  of  horrible  trial.  A  sick 
woman  with  a  frail,  feeble  baby,  facing  starvation, 
abandoned,  slandered,  and  trampled  in  the  mud,  I 
could  only  snatch  at  the  hand  held  out  to  me  by  the 
one  man  I  have  found  honest,  honorable,  loyal,  and 
true,  as  he  was  pitying  and  kind." 

"  But  when  I  reached  Thompsonville  Delia  Brown 
told  me " 

Her  scornful  laugh  drowned  his  words. 

" '  When   you    reached    Thompsonville '    in    your 


140  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

dreams — after  a  night's  carousal  at  college !  Even  a 
congenital  idiot  would  sicken  at  that." 

No  shadow  of  impatience  crossed  his  happy  coun 
tenance;  the  intensity  of  her  scoffing  bitterness  was 
part  of  his  punishment — the  harvest  that  sprang  from 
his  own  sowing — and  he  must  not  complain  until  she 
understood  fully. 

"  I  can  prove  that  I  went  to  Thompsonville,  and  I 
have  the  sworn  testimony  of  Delia  Brown  that  she 
delivered  into  your  hands  my  letters  and  the  package 
of  money  I  sent  to  her  care  through  the  express 
agent.  On  a  scrap  of  paper  I  have  also  a  receipt  in 
pencil  from  you  to  Delia  Brown/' 

She  shook  her  head  and  smote  her  palms  together. 

"  Forgeries  one  and  all.  I  would  not  believe  you 
on  your  oath,  unless  the  grave  yawned,  and  Leighton 
Dane — dead  six  years — came  back  as  witness  in  your 
favor." 

"  '  He  was  the  handsome  Spanish-looking  man ' 
Delia  Brown  told  me  stole  my  wife  and  child  and  dis 
appeared  suddenly — going  to  Florida  or  Cuba  to 
grow  bananas — when  you  heard  I  was  coming  to 
Thompsonville?  " 

"  He  was  a  good  old  man,  my  father's  best  friend, 
who  took  his  place  as  teamster — and  when  I  was  liter 
ally  driven  out  of  the  cabin  one  rainy  night  by  my 
stepmother,  he  was  the  only  human  being  who  be 
lieved  I  was  not  vile.  He  pitied  me  and  carried  me 
in  one  of  the  Government  wagons  to  Thompsonville, 
and  paid  my  board  until  I  was  able  to  earn  my  bread 
by  helping  Delia  Brown  wash  and  iron.  His  term 
was  expiring  soon,  and  when  he  started  back  to  his 
home  in  California,  he  came  by  to  see  if  I  needed 
anything. 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  141 

"  Finding  I  was  ill  in  body,  distracted  in  mind,  des 
perate,  because  I  knew  then  I  was  utterly  deserted, 
and  had  no  hope  of  help,  he  offered  to  carry  me  West 
and  protect  me  on  account  of  his  friendship  for  my 
father.  Oh,  bless  him — for  ever  and  ever !  He  made 
an  humble  little  home  for  us,  and  shielded  and  re 
spected  me,  and  pitied  and  believed  in  me  with  all 
the  strength  of  his  great,  true  heart,  and  was  a  second 
and  a  much  better  father  to  me  in  my  shameful  deso 
lation  and  helplessness.  He  adopted  me  and  my 
baby,  and  when  he  died  he  left  his  small  savings  to 
us;  and  so  I  named  my  outcast  little  one  Leighton 
Dane  for  the  one  loyal  friend  who  helped  me  to  feed 
and  clothe  him  when  his  own  father  rejected  and 
abandoned  him.  I  had  no  proof  except  the  certifi 
cate  you  made  me  swear  I  would  conceal  for  two 
years,  and  your  ally,  the  devil,  worked  well  for  you 
when  the  mice  nesting  in  my  trunk  cut  it  into  shreds 
while  I  was  ill.  The  chaplain  and  Ransom  Hill  were 
dead;  I  had  none  to  speak  for  me;  but  Mr.  Dane 
believed  my  words,  and  he  put  his  big  hand  on  my 
head  and  comforted  me. 

"  '  Poor  little  girl,  don't  worry;  just  be  easy  in  your 
mind,  for  I  know  you  are  telling  the  truth.  I  know 
you  are  good  as  your  own  baby,  and  if  every  mouth 
in  America  swore  against  you  I  would  trust  you  as  I 
always  trusted  my  own  mother.' ' 

A  mist  clouded  her  eyes,  as  dew  softens  the  tint  of 
a  violet,  but  she  clenched  her  hands,  and  bit  her  lip 
hard  to  still  its  tremor,  adding  with  sullen  emphasis : 

"  In  all  these  black  years  the  one  star  of  comfort 
I  can  ever  see  shines  in  the  assurance  that  the  only 
truly  good  man  I  have  found,  who  knew  me  well, 
respected  and  trusted  me  as  he  did  his  dead  mother." 


142  A    SPECKLED   BIRD 

'  You  never  saw  or  heard  of  the  advertisements  I 
published  in  various  papers,  asking  you  to  inform  me 
where  I  could  find  you  ?  " 

The  contempt  in  her  ringing  answer  stung  him  like 
a  whip-lash. 

"  People  who  are  neither  '  lost,  strayed,  nor  stolen  ' 
spend  no  time  hunting  for  imaginary  advertisements 
that  never  go  to  press." 

"  You  shall  read  them  in  the  papers  with  their 
printed  dates.  Copies  have  been  filed  and  preserved 
with  reports  of  unsuccessful  search  from  chiefs  of 
police  in  Louisiana  and  Florida,  whom  I  paid  to  hunt 
for  some  trace  of  you.  They  are  deposited  in  a  Bos 
ton  bank,  with  a  sum  of  money  placed  to  your  cre 
dit — all  to  be  delivered  to  the  order  of  Nona  Moor 
land  Temple.  Write  to  Noah  Giles,  cashier  of 
Orchard  Street  Bank.  I  will  telegraph,  vouching  for 
your  right  to  the  tin  box  bearing  your  name,  and  in 
two  days  you  shall  possess  absolute  proof  that  I  am 
not  the  hardened  scoundrel  you  think  me.  Weak, 
rash,  cowardly  I  certainly  was,  but  as  God  hears  me, 
never  forgetful,  never  unfaithful,  never  intending 
the  wrong  for  which  you  have  suffered  so  fright 
fully." 

The  gaze  of  each  fastened  on  the  other,  neither  had 
noticed  the  cot  or  its  occupant. 

Leighton  slipped  slowly  down  till  his  feet  touched 
the  floor,  and  he  clung  to  the  mattress  for  some 
seconds,  measuring  the  distance  to  the  pair  standing 
in  the  middle  of  the  room.  Weak  from  emotion  that 
almost  overwhelmed  him,  he  felt  his  limbs  would  not 
support  him,  and,  gathering  his  cotton  nightgown 
about  him,  he  sank  on  his  knees  and  crawled  noise 
lessly  forward.  Between  father  and  mother  he 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  143 

crouched,  then  laid  his  head  against  the  feet  of  the 
priest  and  feebly  raised  his  arms. 

"  My  father " 

The  sight,  and  all  it  implied  as  judgment  of  evi 
dence  in  defence,  drove  her  to  jealous  frenzy,  and  she 
sprang  forward  as  a  panther  leaps  to  succor  her 
young. 

"  Don't  touch  him !  Don't  you  dare  to  lay  your 
finger  on  him !  You  have  no  more  right  to  him  than 
to  an  archangel !  He  has  no  father,  has  only  his 
downtrodden  girl-mother.  Don't  you  dare  to  put  your 
sacrilegious  hand  on  his  holy  head.  He  is  not  yours !" 

With  his  right  arm  he  held  her  back,  as  she 
stooped  to  snatch  the  boy  away,  and,  kneeling,  he 
passed  his  left  hand  under  the  prostrate  form,  gath 
ered  him  close  to  his  breast,  and  looked  up  smiling 
into  her  eyes. 

"  Not  mine!     If  I  am  not  his  father — who  is?  " 

"  He  is  mine,  solely  mine ;  body  and  soul,  he  be 
longs  only  to  me !  Before  he  was  born  you  turned  us 
adrift  in  the  world  to  perish,  and  now  that  for  ten 
years  I  have  worked  day  and  night,  fought  for  bread 
and  shelter,  carried  him  on  my  bosom,  slept  with  him 
in  my  arms,  you — who  robbed  me  of  everything,  even 
my  good  name — you  dare — dare  claim  my  outcast 
baby!  I  would  rather  shroud  my  darling  than  hear 
him  call  you  father." 

Leighton's  arms  stole  round  the  priest's  neck,  and 
his  tangled  yellow  curls  touched  the  dark  head  bent 
over  him.  Father  Temple  kissed  the  little  quivering 
face,  strained  him  to  his  heart,  and  the  long-sealed 
fountain  broke  in  tears  that  streamed  upon  the  cling 
ing  child. 

"  My  baby,  my  son,  my  own  lost  lamb,  for  whom 


144  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

I  have  searched  and  prayed — God  knows  how  faith 
fully,  how  sorrowfully — all  these  long,  dreadful 
years  !  " 

As  she  stood  above  them,  barred  by  that  tense 
right  arm,  noting  the  tight  clasp  of  the  thin  hands 
locked  behind  the  father's  head,  an  impotent  rage 
made  her  long  to  scream  out  the  agony  that  found  no 
vent  save  in  a  rapid  beating  of  one  foot  on  the  bare 
floor — much  like  the  lashing  tail  of  some  furious 
furred  creature,  crouching  to  spring,  yet  warily  hesi 
tant. 

Father  Temple's  outstretched  hand  caught  a  fold 
of  her  skirt,  and  with  it  a  strand  of  floating  hair. 

"  Nona,  my  wrife — my  own  wife " 

She  twitched  her  dress  from  his  grasp  and  shook  it. 

"  I  am  not  your  wife !  Thank  God,  I  am  no  man's 
wife !  I  am  free  as  I  was  before  you  came — an  ever 
lasting  blot  between  me  and  the  sunshine.  I  kept  my 
promise  to  you.  I  set  my  teeth  and  was  silent  under 
a  fiery  storm  of  slander  and  foul  accusations  that  blis 
tered  my  girlish  cheek  with  shame,  but  I  waited  till 
the  years  you  named  had  passed,  and  you  had  reached 
your  majority,  and  plucked  up  courage  to  face  your 
father,  and  had  a  legal  right  to  ratify  what  the  Church 
sanctioned  through  the  chaplain.  Then  I  told  my 
only  friend  all  the  facts.  I  ceased  to  hope,  because  I 
had  lost  faith,  but  Mr.  Dane  pleaded  for  you :  '  Wait 
one  year  more,  give  him  the  last  chance  to  do  right/ 
He  wrote  to  a  friend  in  the  old  regiment  and  inquired 
about  all  the  officers,  and  his  answer  told  us  that  your 
father  was  in  Europe,  and  that  the  major  thought  you 
were  with  him.  Then  I  laid  my  case  before  one  of 
the  human  vultures  that  batten  on  the  wreckage  of 
broken  vows — a  lawyer,  expert  in  snapping  matri- 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  145 

monial  chains.  He  sent  you  all  the  necessary  notices 
— sent  them  to  your  college  address,  the  only  one  I 
could  give  him.  Very  soon  the  decree  of  absolute 
divorce  was  rendered,  and  I  dropped  all  right  to  a 
name  I  had  never  publicly  claimed — cast  it  off  as 
gladly  as  I  would  some  foul  garment  worn  by  a  leper. 
Free — free  to  live  my  life  as  I  pleased;  Mrs.  Dane 
and  her  boy  Leighton — free  to  go  wherever  I  wished, 
after  death  took  the  only  real  protector  I  ever  had. 
And  I  chose,  for  my  baby's  sake  as  well  as  my  own, 
to  lead  the  hard  life  of  a  working  woman,  but  clean, 
and  honorable,  and  innocent  as  that  of  any  abbess 
safely  stored  away  from  temptation  behind  brick 
walls  and  iron  gates,  and  though  my  own  little  one 
may  well  be  ashamed  of  his  father,  he  will  never  need 
to  blush  for  his  mother  when  the  peace  of  death  hides 
her  from  an  unjust  and  a  cruel  world." 

Sunshine  had  vanished,  the  room  was  darkening, 
and  the  last  glow  from  a  topaz  band  low  in  the  west 
flickered  over  the  woman's  head,  as  she  swayed  in 
the  wave  of  passionate  protest  that  rocked  her  from 
all  trammels  of  control.  There  was  a  brief  silence, 
broken  by  a  strangling  sob  and  cough,  and  over  the 
breast  of  the  priest's  cassock  a  warm  red  stream 
trickled.  He  rose  quickly  with  the  boy  in  his  arms 
and  carried  him  to  the  window. 

"  Nona,  a  hemorrhage !  " 

"  Lay  him  down.  If  you  have  killed  him,  it  is  the 
fit  ending  of  all  my  wrongs  at  your  hands.  Now 
stand  back !  Back !  Do  you  hear — you  curse  of  my 
life!" 

She  sponged  the  child's  face,  laid  a  wet  compress 
on  his  throat,  and  kept  one  finger  on  his  pulse,  not 
daring  to  give  medicine  while  the  narrowing  red 
10 


146  A   SPECKLED  BIRD 

stream  oozed  more  slowly.  She  lighted  a  lamp,  flew 
into  a  recess  near  the  stove,  and  came  back  with  a 
hypodermic  syringe. 

"  Now,  mother's  man,  don't  flinch." 

Pushing  up  the  sleeve,  she  injected  a  colorless  fluid 
into  his  arm,  held  it  some  seconds,  and  laid  her  lips 
near  the  puncture.  Then  with  one  hand  she  held 
his  head  raised  slightly,  and  with  the  other  sponged 
the  lips  until  the  flow  ceased  and  the  gasping  breath 
grew  easy. 

"  Swallow  your  medicine  slowly,  don't  strangle. 
You  must  lie  perfectly  still.  Mother's  own  little  man 
needs  to  go  to  sleep  now  and  forget  all  he  has  heard 
to-day." 

Father  Temple  had  fallen  on  his  knees  at  the  op 
posite  side  of  the  cot,  clinging  to  one  of  the  boy's 
hands,  and  suddenly  the  child  turned  his  head  and 
looked  imploringly,  first  at  father,  then  at  mother. 
Both  understood  the  mute  prayer  in  the  beautiful, 
tender  eyes.  A  quavering  sound — part  sob,  part 
cough — made  their  hearts  leap. 

"  I  never  will  be  fatherless  any  more.  So  glad ! 
Don't  leave  me,  father." 

"  Leighton,  you  shall  always  be  fatherless.  This 
man  can  be  nothing  to  us.  Because  of  his  deceitful 
promises  I  suffered  the  disgrace  of  smarting  from  a 
horse-whip  laid  on  my  shoulders  when  one  night  I 
was  driven  out  of  my  father's  cabin  by  his  wife,  and 
to  shelter  myself  from  sleet  and  rain  crawled  into  a 
covered  wagon  and  slept  on  hay  and  corn,  until  Uncle 
Dane  found  me  there,  and  had  mercy  on  me.  I  owe 
to  this  priest  every  sorrow  and  trouble  that  have 
darkened  my  life  and  yours.  All  these  years  we  have 
had  only  each  other,  and  you  must  understand  your 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  147 

mother  is  the  one  who  has  the  sole  right  to  your  love. 
My  darling,  you  and  mother  can  be  happy  together, 
and  we  need  only  each  other." 

She  struggled  for  composure,  but  there  was  an 
ominous  pant  in  her  veiled  voice. 

"  I  want  my  father !  Oh,  I  want  him — I — want 
him !  "  Tears  glided  over  his  cheeks. 

She  leaned  down,  snatched  Leighton's  hand  from 
the  priest's  clasp,  clutching  it  between  both  of  hers, 
and  turned  her  blazing  eyes  upon  the  kneeling  man. 

"Will  you  go  now?  Have  you  not  done  harm 
enough  to  satisfy  even  you?  These  are  my  rooms, 
and  I  will  tolerate  your  intrusion  no  longer.  Re 
member,  my  decree  of  divorce  is  absolute,  and  it  se 
cures  to  me  the  custody  of  my  child." 

"  I  recognize  no  validity  in  divorces,  and  the  law 
cannot  annul  a  ceremony  performed  outside  of  its 
restrictions  and  requirements.  Because  we  were 
minors  we  invoked  the  aid  of  the  Church,  and  our 
vows  before  God  can  never  be  cancelled  by  any  civil 
statute.  Except  as  a  solemn,  sacred  rite,  there  was 
nothing  in  our  marriage  to  legitimize  our  child.  This 
is  my  son,  not  by  license  of  law,  but  because  we  swore 
fidelity  to  each  other  '  until  death  do  us  part,'  and 
called  God  to  witness ;  and  no  human  decree  can  rob 
me  of  my  child — since  you  dare  not  name  any  other 
man  his  father.  I  defy  you  to  lay  your  hand  on  his 
innocent  head  and  question  his  legitimacy,  which  in 
heres  only  in  a  ceremony  no  civil  law  sanctioned. 
Months  of  tedious  and  well-nigh  fatal  illness  delayed 
my  return  to  you,  and  during  my  delirium  your  let 
ters  were  mislaid.  When  at  last  I  accidentally  recov 
ered  two  letters,  and  went  on  crutches  to  bring  you 
back  with  me,  you  had  disappeared.  All  the  proofs 


148  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

of  my  search  shall  be  laid  before  you,  and  though  I 
do  not  wonder  you  grew  desperate  and  cast  me  out 
of  your  heart  as  unscrupulous  and  treacherous,  the 
facts  when  investigated  must  convince  you  I  have 
kept  my  vows  as  faithfully  as  you  kept  yours.  I  felt 
that  somewhere  in  the  world  my  wife  and  child  were 
adrift,  through  my  folly,  my  cowardly  fear  of  my 
father,  and,  broken-hearted  and  conscience-smitten, 
I  confessed  to  the  Superior  of  my  Order  in  England 
at  that  time,  that  I  desired  to  live  a  celibate  in  expia 
tion  of  a  rash  act  in  my  boyhood,  which  separated  me 
from  the  wife  I  still  loved.  I  took  my  vows  of 
poverty,  obedience,  and  chastity  with  the  explicit 
understanding  that  they  did  not  absolve  me  from 
m}r  marriage  vows,  should  God  mercifully  permit 
me  to  find  my  family.  I  hold  supreme  the  oath 
I  took  under  the  stars  at  the  Post,  and  second 
in  sanctity  my  vows  before  the  altar  in  our  chapel. 
For  the  awful  consequences  of  my  boyish  weak 
ness  I  accuse  only  myself,  and  if  it  be  part  of  my 
punishment  that  I  have  lost  irrevocably  the  affection 
and  confidence  of  the  mother  of  my  child,  then,  at 
least,  there  remains  for  me  the  comfort  of  finding 
my  boy,  from  whom  I  will  never  again  be  separated ; 
and  to  him  I  must  atone  for  years  of  unintentional 
neglect." 

He  saw  that  his  appeal  was  futile  as  the  leap  of  a 
wave  that  breaks  and  sinks  in  froth  at  the  foot  of 
basaltic  cliffs,  and  the  joyful  light  died  in  his  eyes 
when  he  began  to  realize  that  wishing  to  believe  the 
worst  she  would  never  accept  proofs  offered  in  ex 
culpation. 

"  Nona,  try  to  forgive  me,  for  the  sake  of  our  son, 
our  own  beautiful,  innocent  boy." 


A    SPECKLED    BIRD  149 

There  was  no  answer  but  the  steady,  quick  tapping 
of  her  foot  on  the  floor,  and  her  defiant  face  showed 
no  more  softening  than  an  iron  mask. 

Leaning  forward,  he  kissed  Leighton's  tearful 
cheek,  and  despite  his  effort  to  control  his  voice  it 
trembled. 

"  My  precious  child,  I  thank  God  I  have  found 
you !  Between  your  mother  and  me  you  must  not 
attempt  to  judge  now.  She  has  suffered  terribly  on 
account  of  mistakes  I  made,  and  she  certainly  has  the 
best  right  to  you  and  to  your  love.  It  is  painful  for 
her  to  see  me,  and  I  cannot  blame  her,  but  some  ar 
rangement  must  and  shall  be  made  by  which  I  can 
come  often  and  be  with  you  without  intruding  upon 
her.  She  will  select  and  name  the  hours  when  my 
visits  will  give  her  least  annoyance.  Good  night,  my 
son.  To-day  I  am  happier  than  I  have  been  since  I 
kissed  your  dear  mother  good-bye." 

He  tore  a  blank  page  from  Ugo  Bassi's  "  Sermon," 
wrote  a  few  lines,  laid  the  paper  near  his  wife's  hand, 
and  went  out,  closing  the  door  very  gently. 

"  The  hemorrhage  was  not  all  blood.  I  think  an 
abscess  has  broken,  and  it  may  save  his  life.  He 
must  have  a  change  as  soon  as  it  is  safe  to  move  him  ; 
but  at  present  it  might  be  fatal.  Your  money  and  his 
in  the  Boston  bank  will  make  him  comfortable,  and 
unless  you  use  it  I  shall  be  obliged  to  interfere.  Let 
the  doctor  decide  where  and  when  the  child  should 
go.  To-morrow  at  two  o'clock  I  wish  to  come  here, 
but  you  can  easily  avoid  seeing  me  if  you  so  desire. 
May  God  soften  your  heart  towards  your  unfortunate 
but  faithful  husband." 

When  Father  Temple  entered  the  Herriott  library, 


150  A   SPECKLED  BIRD 

Noel  rose  from  a  desk  where  he  was  sealing  letters 
and  put  out  both  hands. 

"  Herriott,  most  blessed  of  friends !  How  can  I 
ever  thank  you  ?  " 

"  You  have  found  your  wife  and  child  ?  Thank 
God !  I  could  scarcely  wait  for  the  good  news  I  was 
sure  you  would  bring  me." 

His  eyes  were  misty,  and  the  grip  of  his  hands  was 
harder  than  he  knew  as  he  drew  the  priest  to  a  chair. 

"  Dear  old  fellow,  it  has  been  rather  too  much  for 
you.  Brace  yourself  with  this  mixture.  I  had  an 
idea  your  Reverence  might  need  a  tonic,  since  '  after 
the  manner  of  men,  you  have  fought  with  beasts  at 
Ephesus.'  Drink  it !  Your  spiritual  superior  would 
advise  it  if  he  could  see  your  face." 

"  Tell  me,  Noel,  how  you  discovered  Nona." 

"  I  saw  her  at  the  glove  counter  where  she  is  em 
ployed,  and  was  puzzled  by  her  resemblance  to  a  face 
I  had  admired  in  San  Francisco.  I  heard  out  there 
that  some  mystery  hung  about  her,  but  no  hint  of 
any  impropriety  on  her  part.  Such  delicacy  of  feat 
ures  and  perfect  coloring  are  rare,  and  faces  so  beauti 
ful  etch  deep  on  one's  memory.  Belmont  painted 
her  as  '  Aurora '  in  his  group,  and  gave  me  a  photo 
graph  of  her  head ;  but  he  spoke  of  her  with  respect, 
and  commented  on  her  proud  prudishness  in  refusing 
to  sit  in  his  studio.  You  recollect  Sidney  Forsyth? 
He  carried  me  to  a  '  night  school '  for  working  girls, 
established  by  his  mother,  and  there  I  first  saw  '  Au 
rora/  hard  at  work  in  the  bookkeeping  class.  He 
admired  her  extravagantly,  and  told  me  that  despite 
her  girlish  appearance  she  was  a  widow  with  a  child, 
and  lived  like  a  nun  in  the  very  small  cottage  of  an 
old  uncle.  Last  summer,  in  hunting  through  a  dis- 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  151 

carded  trunk  hastily  packed  at  Oxford  while  you 
were  on  the  Continent,  I  found  among  several  sheets 
from  your  portfolio  that  water-color  sketch,  and  it 
revived  my  old  suspicion  that  some  early  tragedy  had 
driven  you  into  cloisters.  Sooner  or  later  one  finds 
on  almost  every  man's  road  through  life  the  sign-post, 
dux  femina  facti,  and  I  stumbled  against  yours  when 
I  had  ceased  to  conjecture  your  motive  for  a  course 
that  astounded  your  friends.  Last  night,  after  you 
left  me,  I  verified  a  few  dates  in  my  diary,  and  to-day's 
visit  to  Brooklyn  made  it  absolutely  certain  my  iden 
tification  was  correct.  I  congratulate  you,  and  am 
heartily  glad  that  I  helped  to  flush  your  family 
covey." 

"  Congratulations  sound  grim  after  all  I  passed 
through  to-day.  Did  you  ever  dream  you  were 
dying  from  thirst,  and  just  as  you  stooped  to  drink 
the  spring  vanished  ?  I  have  realized  that  tantalizing 
vision.  Nona  will  never  forgive  me,  never  accept  my 
explanation,  never  believe  my  statements,  never  toler 
ate  the  sight  of  me.  She  hates  me  with  an  intensity 
that  is  sickening,  and  because  the  child  is  mine  she 
would  rather  see  him  in  his  coffin  than  in  my  arms. 
She  hugs  to  her  heart  the  conviction  that  I  am  utterly 
vile,  because  she  wants  to  believe  the  worst,  and  furi 
ously  rejects  any  attempt  to  prove  that  I  am  not  a 
doubly  dyed  hypocrite  and  villain.  You  have  been 
so  loyal  a  friend,  I  should  like  to  tell  you  all  that 
occurred." 

When  he  finished  a  detailed  recital  of  his  interview, 
he  leaned  back,  sighed  heavily,  and  closed  his  eyes. 

"  I  knew  you  were  going  into  a  fiery  furnace,  for, 
from  what  I  have  heard  and  seen  of  your  wife,  I  fear 
she  is  one  of  the  few  inexorable  women,  impervious 


152  A   SPECKLED  BIRD 

to  reason,  to  passionate  pleading,  to  the  most  adroit 
cajolery.  The  hotter  the  lava,  the  harder  when  it 
cools.  Will  you  permit  me  to  offer  a  suggestion?  " 

The  priest  raised  his  haggard  face  and  laid  his  hand 
on  Mr.  Herriott's  knee. 

"  I  shall  be  grateful  for  advice  which  I  sorely  need 
just  now." 

"  You  have  found  the  missing,  but  if  you  are  not 
wide  awake  and  cautious  you  will  lose  them  again, 
and  permanently." 

"  What  do  you  mean?  " 

'  You  told  her  you  would  go  back  to-morrow  at 
two  o'clock?  I  rather  think  you  will  not  find  her; 
she  will  have  vanished  forever." 

"  Impossible !  The  child  is  too  ill  to  be  moved, 
and  she  would  not  risk  the  danger  to  him." 

"  In  her  present  mood  nothing  is  impossible,  and 
she  would  dare  death  if  it  were  necessary,  in  order  to 
thwart  you.  She  belongs  to  more  than  one  society 
of  communists,  and  the  freemasonry  in  operation  is 
marvellous.  There  are  places  in  this  city,  in  Chicago, 
and  in  several  New  Jersey  towns  where  she  could 
disappear  as  successfully  as  in  a  Siberian  mine;  and 
you  must  keep  in  touch  with  your  beautiful  boy,  who 
is  much  too  fine  a  porcelain  vase  to  be  filled  with  the 
vitriol  of  socialism.  Before  you  sleep  to-night  ask 
the  police  department  to  set  a  special  watchman  in 
sight  of  that  house,  with  instructions  to  report  to  you 
any  indications  of  intended  removal." 

"  Then  I  must  go,  although  I  do  not  share  your 
apprehension  that  Nona  would  rashly  risk  the  boy's 
safety.  Noel,  I  owe  you  so  much — and  for  such  va 
rious  benefits — I  am  simply  bankrupt  in  expressions 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  153 

of  gratitude ;  but  at  least  I  can  pray  God  to  grant  you 
your  dearest  desire  in  life,  be  that  what  it  may." 

He  rose,  arid  Mr.  Herriott  walked  with  him  to  the 
front  door, 

"  Temple,  write  me  fully  all  that  you  know  I  shall 
wish  to  hear.  Let  me  help  you  in  any  way  possible 
to  secure  a  change  of  climate  for  your  little  St.  John 
of  the  gilded  locks.  Early  to-morrow  I  go  home, 
and  in  a  few  days  your  cousins  from  Washington  will 
be  my  guests.  Are  you  quite  willing  Eglah  should 
know  the  complications  surrounding  you  at  pres 
ent?" 

"  Tell  her  everything,  and  do  not  spare  me  or  suf 
fer  her  to  blame  the  innocent  victims  of  my  rashness. 
Some  day  Eglah  may  help  me  to  soften  my  Nona's 
heart.  When  and  where  may  I  hope  to  see  you 
again?" 

"  Very  soon  I  start  to  Arizona  for  a  short  stay, 
thence  to  the  most  northern  of  the  Aleutian  Islands, 
where  I  expect  to  find  Eskimo  cliff-dwellers,  and 
later  to  the  region  northwest  of  Hudson  Bay.  Be 
sure  to  write  me,  and  Vernon — pardon  my  perhaps 
unjustifiable  insistence — don't  fail  to  secure  police 
surveillance  before  you  sleep." 

When  the  door  closed,  Mr.  Herriott  wrote  a  tele 
gram  to  the  physician  who  attended  Leighton,  walked 
to  the  nearest  telegraph  office,  and  heard  his  message 
click  over  the  wires. 

A  few  days  later  he  was  not  surprised  to  learn  that 
only  the  sternly  positive  interdict  of  the  doctor  had 
frustrated  an  attempt  to  remove  Leighton  from 
Brooklyn  at  ten  o'clock  on  Monday  morning. 


CHAPTER    XIII 

The  first  view  of  "  Greyledge  "  suggested  a  stone 
crazy-quilt,  so  multitudinous  were  its  angles,  so  in 
congruous  its  medley  of  styles;  but  examination 
showed  architectural  strata  superimposed  in  such 
trend  that  the  paradoxical  dip  had  uplifted  the  oldest 
to  the  crest.  Three  stories,  echelon,  looked  as  if  they 
had  frozen  in  dancing  a  minuet,  each  receding  yet  ris 
ing,  and  when,  as  a  bride,  Nina  Herriott  stepped  out 
of  her  carriage,  she  gayly  made  three  very  low  bows 
to  the  dwelling  that  appeared  courtesying  to  welcome 
her.  The  long  first  story  was  a  piazza  or  loggia,  with 
wide,  round  arches  upheld  by  double  shafts,  closed  in 
winter  by  glass  doors  and  storm  shutters,  in  summer 
noons  sheltered  from  the  glare  of  sun-smitten  water 
by  white  and  blue  awnings.  No  railing  divided  it 
from  the  broad  stone  terrace  just  below,  overhanging 
the  lake  that  mirrored  its  carved  and  fluted  balustrade 
where  vine-fringed  vases  glowed  with  flowers  for 
three  months  of  each  year.  At  the  north  end  of  the 
arcade,  a  round  tower,  rising  one  hundred  and  fifty 
feet,  held  a  lamp  with  brilliant  reflector  that  shone  far 
out  over  the  apparently  shoreless  lake  on  moonless 
and  stormy  nights,  and  at  the  south  corner  one  of 
several  flights  of  steps  led  to  an  arched  and  domed 
pavilion  where  boats  were  moored. 

The  second  floor  flowered  into  bay  windows,  mul- 
lioned  and  diamond  paned ;  and  the  third  might  have 
slipped  from  some  Swiss  hillside,  so  full  it  seemed  of 


A  SPECKLED  BIRD  155 

small  balconies,  sharp  gables,  dormers,  and  deep  re 
cesses,  and  the  steep  roof  that  crowned  the  whole 
overhung  like  an  Alpine  hat  the  frivolous  imper 
tinence  of  trefoil  and  stained  glass.  Rains  had 
bleached  and  snow  storms  pumiced  the  stone  walls 
to  a  smooth,  cool  grey,  silvered  in  spots  by  films  of 
lichen,  while  on  two  turreted  chimneys  ivy  had  braved 
ascent  to  weave  a  cloak  of  glossy  green  across  the 
sombre  smoke  stains  garnered  during  many  genera 
tions.  The  most  elevated  portion  of  the  composite 
structure  had  been  built  on  the  side  of  a  rocky  hill, 
at  some  distance  from  the  lake  edge,  and  gradually 
the  declivity  had  been  graded  for  the  later  additions 
that  finally  advanced  until  they  could  see  their  own 
irregular  fagade  reflected  in  the  water  spraying  their 
foundations ;  consequently  the  floors  were  on  different 
levels,  and  one  went  up  and  down  short  flights  of 
steps  to  reach  apartments  in  the  same  story. 

Herriott  tradition  claimed  that  early  French  pioneers 
had  here  destroyed  an  Indian  fort,  and  that  their  rude 
hunting  lodge  was  succeeded  by  a  missionary  station, 
where  a  semi-circular  excavation  in  the  rock  had 
served  as  oratory;  in  proof  whereof  an  old  wooden 
cross,  partly  gilded  with  tarnished,  tattered  gold  leaf, 
still  hung  in  the  small  stone  cave  that  once  echoed 
the  antiphony  of  Latin  chants,  and  held  forever  in  its 
mossy  crannies  subtle,  spicy  survivals  of  sanctifying 
incense.  Sheltered  on  the  north  by  hills,  clothed 
with  vineyards  along  their  southern  face,  the  court 
yard  and  shrubbery  nestled  close  to  the  rocks,  but 
eastward  stretched  wide  fields  and  level  meadows 
bounded  by  dense  woods  rising  on  steep  uplands,  blue 
in  the  distance ;  and  south  lay  a  garden  of  olden  time, 
with  primly  boxed  beds,  walks  hedged  with  lilacs, 


156  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

snow-balls,  glistening  rhododendrons,  and  masses  of 
roses  that  ran  riot  to  the  foot  of  a  high  enclosing 
stone  wall,  where  a  shining  mantle  of  ivy  climbed  to 
match  its  verdure  with  the  velvet  of  hills  that  here 
circled  like  a  clasping  arm,  reaching  from  far-away 
forests  to  the  lake  margin.  The  courtyard  was  so 
nearly  on  a  level  with  the  rear  of  the  house  that  only 
three  shallow  steps  were  needed  for  entrance,  and  at 
this  spot  the  range  of  color  had  been  exhausted  by 
masses  of  lilies,  irises,  peonies,  and  foliage  plants — so 
brilliant  that  in  the  summer  sunshine  benignant  na 
ture  seemed  to  have  paved  the  place  with  a  flawless 
prism. 

On  the  morning  after  the  arrival  of  Mr.  Herriott's 
guests,  breakfast  had  been  served  on  the  long,  ar- 
caded  piazza,  where  stood  three  circular  tables,  each 
bright  and  fragrant  from  central  piles  of  flowers  and 
fruit.  At  the  middle  one  Mr.  Herriott  sat  with  Eg- 
lah  and  Judge  Kent,  around  that  on  his  left  were 
Miss  Katrina  Manning — an  aunt  of  Noel's  mother — 
Professor  Cleveden,  and  Eliza  Mitchell,  and  grouped 
at  his  right  were  Beatrix  Roberts,  a  cousin  of  Miss 
Manning's,  Dana  Stapleton  of  New  York,  and  Roger 
Hull,  the  young  congressman  from  a  northwestern 
State,  whose  devotion  to  Eglah  had  long  been  un 
disguised. 

It  was  a  cloudless  summer  day,  and  the  crisp  wind 
from  the  west  drove  the  crystal  water  of  the  great 
inland  sea  into  ruffles  of  foamy  lace  against  the  stone 
face  of  the  terrace.  If  she  had  floated  down  from  a 
Fragonard  panel,  or  stepped  out  of  a  Watteau  clave 
cin,  Miss  Manning  could  not  have  represented  more 
picturesquely  a  dainty  type  of  the  long  by-gone.  Low 
in  stature,  slight  and  graceful,  this  airy  old  lady,  with 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  157 

silver  hair  piled  high  on  her  head,  where  jewelled 
side  combs  held  her  curls  close — habitually  wore 
grey  silk  or  velvet,  and  her  bright,  restless  round 
eyes  increased  her  likeness  to  a  bird,  hence  Noel's 
pet  name  was  "  Auntie  Dove."  Her  gowns  were 
many  years  behind  the  reigning  mode,  and  she  shook 
her  voluminous  skirts  in  indignant  scorn  of  close- 
clinging  garments  then  coming  rapidly  into  vogue. 
When  her  favorite  young  cousin  Beatrix  plucked  up 
courage  to  denounce  "  antediluvian  fashions,"  the 
grey  old  dame  seized  her  by  the  shoulders  and  shook 
her  till  her  teeth  chattered. 

"  Trix,  you  are  an  impertinent  minx !  My  gowns 
are  decent  and  fit  my  morals,  and  I  would  as  soon 
change  the  cover  on  the  Manning  family  Bible.  You 
young  people  have  no  longer  any  sense  of  proportion; 
your  skirts  are  so  skin-tight  you  might  all  be  '  artist's 
models,'  and  your  manners  and  your  disgraceful  slang 
are  about  as  unlaced  as  the  bohemians.  If  your  re 
fined  grandmother  Manning  could  move  in  her  por 
trait  frame,  she  would  most  certainly  turn  her  back 
to  you  and  her  shocked  countenance  to  the  wall." 

To-day  she  lifted  her  tortoise-shell  lorgnette  to 
examine  the  rather  unusual  pattern  of  Professor 
Cleveden's  black  onyx  sleeve  buttons,  which  repre 
sented  tarantulas  with  prominent  diamond  eyes. 

"  Noel,  are  we  all  permanently  arranged  in  trios? 
Because,  if  so,  you  have  been  cruelly  unkind  in  con 
demning  the  professor  to  sit  next  to  an  orthodox  old 
woman  who  knows  no  more  science  than  a  blind 
kitten,  who  is  no  bugologist,  no  apostle  to  moths, 
and  who  bitterly  disapproves  of  crucifying  butterflies 
on  pins." 

"  Aunt  Trina,  you  will  not  be  allowed  to  monopo- 


158  A   SPECKLED  BIRD 

lize  each  other,  no  matter  how  earnestly  you  both 
may  desire  to  do  so.  Shall  we  change  groups  once 
a  day,  or  at  each  meal,  in  order  that  the  collective 
wit  and  wisdom  may  be  impartially  distributed  ?  " 

"  I  suggest  that  all  names  be  deposited  in  a  box 
and  that  we  draw  for  places,"  said  Mr.  Stapleton, 
fearful  of  losing  his  neighbor,  Miss  Roberts. 

"  Dana,  what  a  rash  challenge  to  chance !  She  can 
be  spiteful,  that  classic,  grinning  old  jade,  and  might 
roll  up  three  women  to  one  table,  leaving  a  solitary 
charming  belle — presumably  myself — to  the  tender 
mercies  of  five  furious  men.  Fancy  the  impotent 
wrath  of  the  beauless  trio  robbed  of  their  legitimate 
prey!  Noel,  do  not  risk  any  such  dire  disaster,  but 
try  the  democratic  plan  of  rotation  in  office,  whereby 
I  shall  afflict  each  of  you  for  only  a  few  hours  of  my 
term.  What  delicious  apricots!  Surely  old  Amos 
Lea  did  not  grow  them?  " 

Miss  Manning  held  up  a  twig  on  which  twin,  lus 
cious  apricots  glowed. 

"  They  were  ripened  by  the  hot  suns  and  spiced  by 
Pacific  breezes  in  lower  California,  where  I  have  a 
friend  who  now  and  then  sends  a  hamper  from  his 
fruit  farm.  Beauties,  are  they  not?  My  old  gar 
dener  Amos,  jealous  of  the  fame  of  his  own  orchard, 
snorted  contemptuously  and  assured  me  they  tasted 
like  stale  sawdust." 

"  Does  he  still  employ  David,  St.  Paul,  and  the 
prophets  as  proxies  to  curse  his  enemies? "  asked 
Professor  Cleveden,  helping  himself  liberally  to  cher 
ries. 

Catching  sight  of  Eliza  Mitchell's  rebuking  eyes, 
Mr.  Herriott  laughed. 

"  Yes,  he  sternly  restricts  his  imprecations  to  Bibli- 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  159 

cal  quotations.  When  I  was  a  boy  I  ruined  some 
very  rare  tulips  by  setting  mole  traps  in  the  border, 
and  in  his  rage  he  called  on  '  fat  bulls  of  Bashan '  to 
gore  me.  Years  later  I  imported  a  stock  of  pigeons, 
and  when  they  literally  devoured  his  early  crop  of 
sweet  peas,  he  seized  me  by  the  coat  collar,  showed 
me  the  havoc,  and  shouted,  '  May  the  Angel  of  the 
Lord  chase  you  and  your  devilish  English  thieves/ 
He  has  tyrannized  over  us  all  so  long,  that  his  wrath 
knew  no  bounds  when  my  amiable  young  stepmother, 
who  desired  some  alterations  in  the  hothouse,  defied 
his  arguments  and  wishes,  and  insisted  on  an  annex 
for  orchids  that  necessitated  the  removal  of  his  pet 
carnations.  Whereupon,  raising  his  hand,  he  shook 
it  furiously  and  hissed :  '  Madam,  you  have  done  me 
much  evil.  May  the  Lord  requite  you  according  to 
your  works ! '  With  tears  in  her  eyes  Nina  fled  to 
my  father." 

"  A  grumpy  curmudgeon  is  old  Amos  Lea,  but  his 
religious  convictions  are  so  earnest  that  I  would 
sooner  house  a  swarm  of  wasps  inside  my  vest  than 
tread  on  his  Baptist  toes.  He  objects  strenuously  to 
my  association  with  Herriott,  having  overheard  some 
of  our  heretical  geologic  discussions  as  we  strolled 
through  the  gardens,  and  he  eyes  me  as  if  I  were  the 
foul  fiend  at  Herriott's  heels,  prodding  him  downward 
with  a  pitchfork.  I  wish  that  somewhere  in  the  great 
outside  world  I  had  such  a  loyal,  godly  friend  to  pray 
for  my  soul." 

"  Dear  me !  I  thought  you  scientists  disdained 
such  a  superstition,  and  that  you  had  reduced  souls 
and  minds  to  mere  '  reflex  sensory  '  action,  and  '  cere 
bral  sinuosities/  and  '  psychoplasm,'  and  '  inherited 
instincts,'  and  deposits  of  phosphorus?"  interjected 


160  A    SPECKLED    BIRD 

Miss  Roberts,  as  she  dipped  her  jewelled  hand  into 
her  finger  bowl  to  bruise  the  lemon  blossoms. 

"  My  dear  young  lady,  pray  do  not  join  the  multi 
tude  in  stoning  the  prophets.  If  there  be  ghosts — 
blessed  are  the  grammarians  who  invented  a  subjunc 
tive  mood — those  of  martyred  students  of  science 
will  one  day  haunt  you,  more  terrible  than  '  an  army 
with  banners.'  Herriott  is  a  much  more  attractive 
target  than  I — younger  and  handsomer — why  not 
call  him  into  the  witness  box  and  swear  him  on  the 
case  of  souls?  " 

'''  Trix,  there  is  no  need  to  pester  yourself  about 
Noel's  soul.  Old  Amos  Lea  made  sure  of  his  safety 
when  he  baptized  him  the  second  time.  Noel,  tell 
her  about  it.  How  your  poor  father  laughed  that 
day!" 

"  Being  a  rigid  Baptist  and  an  elder,  Amos  scouted 
my  Presbyterian  christening  as  totally  inadequate  to 
neutralize  what  he  considered  my  unusually  large 
share  of  original  sin,  and  as  his  wife,  Susan,  was  my 
nurse,  they  began  to  grieve  over  my  reprobateness 
as  soon  as  I  was  old  enough  to  lay  claim  to  moral 
responsibility.  When  I  was  about  sixteen  I  was  out 
yonder  on  the  lake  fishing.  Two  friends  were  with 
me,  and  we  all  swam  well,  or  thought  we  did.  A 
sudden  squall  capsized  the  boat,  and  I  was  caught 
and  held  under  it  in  such  a  way  that  I  could  not  ex 
tricate  myself.  The  boys  hovered  around,  trying 
unsuccessfully  to  help  me,  but  just  then  Amos  kicked 
off  his  boots,  plunged  in,  and  swam  to  the  rescue. 
He  was  strong  as  a  whale,  raised  the  end  of  the  boat 
with  his  shoulder  and  dragged  me  out.  I  was  slightly 
stunned,  and  he  swam  with  me  into  shallow  water, 
where  he  could  stand  up.  Then  he  lifted  me  hori- 


A  SPECKLED  BIRD  161 

zontally,  as  if  I  had  been  a  baby  in  long  clothes,  and 
repeating  with  triumphant  fervor  the  baptismal  for 
mula  of  his  Church,  he  immersed  me  so  thoroughly 
that  I  regained  consciousness,  and  he  turned  me  over 
to  Susan  and  hot  blankets,  as  a  '  brand  snatched  from 
the  burning,'  and  properly  baptized." 

Removing  the  ice  from  the  yellow  heart  of  his 
melon,  Judge  Kent  glanced  around  the  table. 

"  Owning  such  a  paradise  as  this  home,  do  you 
not  all  share  my  amazement  that  Herriott  can  prefer 
to  shut  it  up  and  wander  contentedly  over  the  con 
tinent,  searching  its  rough  crannies — Labna,  Mitla, 
Casa  Grande,  and  where  not — for  what  he  pedan 
tically  calls  the  'primeval  anthropological  nidus'?" 

"  Oh,  bless  you,  Senator  Kent,  it  is  just  in  his 
blood,  and  he  can  no  more  keep  still  than  a  flea  can 
stop  hopping.  His  father  was  a  surveyor — civil  en 
gineer — always  roving,  and  Noel  is  exactly  like  him; 
which  none  of  you  will  doubt  when  I  assure  you  his 
mother  really  was  an  absolutely  beautiful  woman. 
He  is  a  hopeless  tramp.  He  gravitates  to  the  wildest 
places  of  creation,  as  you  and  Mr.  Hull  to  the  culti 
vation  of  votes,  and  Dana  to  Wall  Street  kites,  and 
this  insecticide  professor  to  picking  the  lock  of  God's 
workshop  when  He  has  closed  the  door  and  gone  to 
His  seventh  day  rest." 

"  Aunt  Trina  refuses  to  believe  that  my  ambition 
to  become  acquainted  with  our  prehistoric  family 
relatives  is  a  laudable  method  of  climbing  the  genea 
logical  tree.  She  is  not  enthusiastic  on  ancestry." 

"  That  depends,  my  dear  boy,  on  the  '  strain '  you 

are  hunting.     If  the  first  hatching  of  brown  skins  in 

that  '  primeval  nidus  '  of  your  dreams  had  only  been 

as  wise  and  prudent  as   modern   cattle  and  horse 

11 


162  A   SPECKLED  BIRD 

raisers,  and  fixed  rules  of  pure-blooded  pedigree,  we 
might  not  fear  to  grope  backward  lest  we  find  only 
'  grades '  in  our  family  group.  Now,  climbing  a 
genuine,  decent,  civilized  ancestral  tree  is  much  bet 
ter  sport  than  twisting  up  slippery  totem  poles  with 
a  coyote,  or  a  coon,  or  a  vulture  perched  on  top,  as 
head  of  the  family." 

"  And,  pray,  what  of  the  sacred  menagerie  of  her 
aldry?  The  quadrupeds,  birds,  flowers  of  armorial 
blazonry — all  that  makes  heraldic  pomp  picturesque — 
are  but  survivals  of  primeval  totem  symbols  through 
out  the  world.  Auntie  Dove,  your  book-plate  and 
your  family  seal  bear  a  leopard  couchant,  very  dear 
to  your  orthodox,  patrician  heart,  and  some  day  your 
hereditary  pet  beast  may  have  glared  down  upon  a 
Tlinkit  teepee." 

"  Marriage  is  the  only  cure  for  Herriott,  and  it 
would  effectually  tether  him,"  said  Mr.  Hull,  keeping 
his  eyes  on  Eglah. 

"  It  appears  that  you  have  carefully  avoided  tak 
ing  your  own  prescription,"  answered  his  host. 

"  It  is  by  no  means  my  fault.  Though  futile,  my 
efforts  have  been  heroic." 

Professor  Cleveden  leaned  forward. 

"  You  good  people  do  not  understand  how  deeply 
Herriott  is  imbued  with  the  conviction  that  contem 
porary  '  differentiation  '  is  not  a  synonym  for  desir 
able  advancement.  The  complex,  hybridized,  neu 
rotic  creature  he  meets  in  society  does  not  always 
impress  him  as  vastly  superior  to  the  primeval  female 
type,  and  you  may  all  expect  that  whenever  matri 
monial  shackles  restrict  his  pasturage,  which  will  not 
be  in  Wyandot  lines,  he  will  be  hobbled  by  '  some 
savage  woman '  whose  accomplishments  are  limited 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  163 

to  the  slim  schedule  set  down  by  that  jilted  cynic  of 
'  Locksley  Hall.'  The  '  new  woman  '  incites  us  to 
pray  fervently  for  swift  reversion  to  type.  Now, 
Miss  Manning,  I  am  sure  you  are  preparing  to  tell  me 
that- 

"  That  of  course  in  such  matters  tastes  differ,  and 
not  one  of  us  feels  disposed  to  deprive  Professor 
Cleveden  of  his  coveted  female  simian  companion; 
but,  as  Noel  never  has  had  a  flirtatious  '  Cousin  Amy  ' 
to  rub  him  the  wrong  way,  he  has  no  provocation  to 
present  to  me  a  squaw  as  my  great  niece." 

"  It  is  very  evident  the  professor  viciously  remem 
bers  his  own  '  Amy,'  "  said  Miss  Roberts,  who  was 
watching  keenly  for  some  manifestation  of  conscious 
ness  in  Noel  and  Eglah. 

"  Miss  Beatrix,  no  scapegoat  '  Amy '  bears  away 
my  sins  of  temper,  because,  as  a  naturalist,  I  am 
unalterably  opposed  to  the  marriage  of  cousins. 
I  never  owned  but  one  sweetheart.  She  took  my 
unfeathered  young  affections  into  her  tender  hands 
when  she  was  only  ten  years  old,  and  so  carefully  has 
she  preserved  them  that  after  twenty  years  of  mar 
ried  life  she  remains  my  charming  sweetheart — 
my  pearl  of  womanhood — the  supreme  joy  of  my 
existence.  She  is  the  one  priceless  fossil  in  my  col 
lection,  guarded  with  jealous  watchfulness,  because 
she  no  more  resembles  the  new  feminine  type  than  a 
snowy  dove  a  blind,  broken-winged,  snapping  hawk." 

"  When  I  marry,  my  ambition  will  soar  beyond 
being  bottled  in  alcohol  or  boxed  in  sawdust  or  cotton 
wool,  like  a  centipede  or  a  cracked  egg  of  the  great 
auk.  I .  should  imagine  that  men  who  spend  their 
work  days  among  musty,  stuffy  fossils  would  rather 
enjoy  the  variety  of  an  up-to-date,  cultivated  wife 


164:  A   SPECKLED  BIRD 

who  kept  in  touch  with  social  tides  and  currents. 
Now,  Mr.  Herriott,  you  who  prowl  about  laboratories 
and  museums  until  you  understand  their  dreary  jar 
gon  as  fully  as  you  do  leading  a  german  or  playing 
polo,  ought  to  be  a  wi3~r  umpire  than  this  one-sided 
shut-in  scientist,  who  prefers  dry  bones  to  living  pink 
flesh." 

"  In  the  first  place,  Miss  Beatrix,  I  must,  in  the 
absence  of  Mrs.  Cleveden,  protest  against  her  hus 
band's  classification  of  her  as  a  fossil.  She  is  alive 
to  her  finger  tips  with  enthusiasm  for  his  work,  in 
which  she  is  his  ablest  assistant,  and  knowing  some 
thing  of  his  charming  home  life,  I  consider  him  the 
most  enviable  man  of  my  acquaintance.  We  who  are 
not  so  fortunate  in  the  matter  of  sweethearts,  must 
content  ourselves  with  the  best  available  substitute; 
and  you  know,  '  if  one  cannot  have  what  one  loves, 
one  must  love  what  one  has.' ' 

"  A  defence  of  fickleness  quite  unworthy  of  you ; 
and  moreover,  Noel,  utterly  untrue,  for  of  all  people 
in  the  world  you  are  the  very  last  to  surrender  any 
thing  you  really  want." 

"  Aunt  Katrina,  would  you  have  me  spend  my  life 
wailing  for  the  moon  ?  " 

"  Pooh !  You  are  not  so  fatuous  as  to  want  to 
drag  a  surveyor's  chain  across  its  cold  chasms  and 
jagged  heights ;  and  after  a  brief  study  of  your  frozen 
charmer  you  would  turn  your  telescope  on  something 
accessible  and  more  valuable.  Miss  Kent,  do  you 
consider  Noel  a  fickle  person?  " 

Eglah  looked  up,  and,  meeting  the  eyes  of  her  host, 
they  both  laughed. 

"  Certainly  not.      His  life-long  devotion   to  you 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  165 

ought  to  shield  him  from  all  suspicion  of  incon 
stancy." 

"  Aunt  Trina,  she  is  not  an  impartial  umpire.  The 
first  time  I  saw  her,  a  little  girl  wearing  a  snowy  mus 
lin  with  blue  ribbon  bows  on  her  shoulders,  we  en 
tered  into  a  compact,  adopted  each  other  as  half- 
brother  and  stepsister,  and  now  in  supreme  trust  we 
form  a  sort  of  mutual  aid,  mutual  defence — on  my 
part,  admiration — association.  If  she  saw  fifty  fatal 
flaws  in  me  she  would  loyally  conceal  them  from  you, 
who  are  such  a  terribly  severe  censor." 

"  Herriott  ought  to  go  into  politics ;  don't  you 
think  so,  Miss  Manning?"  asked  Mr.  Hull. 

44  By  no  means.  I  prefer  he  should  keep  his  hands 
clean." 

"  Senator  Kent  can  tell  you,  madam,  that  we  do  not 
all  dabble  in  mud  or  pitch." 

Mr.  Herriott  leaned  forward,  and  spoke  more 
quickly  than  usual. 

"  She  is  afraid  I  might  not  swell  the  class  of  dis 
tinguished  exceptions  which  you  and  Senator  Kent 
represent.  Aunt  Trina,  may  I  trouble  you  for  a 
second  cup  of  coffee  and  an  extra  lump  of  sugar  ?  " 

Beatrix  had  completed  her  inventory  of  Eglah's 
points  of  attraction,  and  now,  as  her  eyes  rested  on 
the  graceful  figure  daintily  gowned  in  lilac  muslin, 
the  result  annoyed  her. 

"  Miss  Kent,  has  your  college  training  fitted  you 
to  believe  all  the  marvellous  tales  these  two  wise 
scholars  tell  us ;  as,  for  instance,  that  this  lovely  spot 
— this  suburb  of  paradise  where  we  are  sitting — was 
once  buried  for  ages  under  ten  thousand  feet  of 
glacial  ice?" 

"  I  am  sorry  to  confess  my  course  of  study  carried 


166  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

me  only  far  enough  to  see  the  border  land  of  a  king 
dom  I  never  expect  to  explore.  Unless  one  special 
izes,  four  years  at  college  make  no  experts.  You 
might  as  well  ask  a  butterfly  to  classify  all  the  blos 
soms  it  hovered  over,  or  measure  the  depths  of  gla 
ciers." 

The  professor  pushed  aside  his  cup,  and  looked  at 
her. 

"  And  why  not  ?  It  can  teach  us  infinitely  more 
than  its  human,  club-crazy  sisters.  My  dear  Miss 
Kent,  we  who  are  in  bonds  to  science  exact  great 
accuracy  even  in  the  selection  of  metaphors,  and  you 
will  pardon  me  if  I  rise  to  defend  the  usefulness  of 
butterflies.  On  top  of  Mount  Washington  survives 
a  colony  of  butterflies  found  nowhere  else  south  of 
Arctic  snows  and  ice;  descendants  of  a  family  which 
retreated  with  the  great  glacier  that  once  overflowed 
New  Hampshire  and  left  only  the  pinnacle  of  Mount 
Washington  uncovered.  When  the  (Eneis  household 
moved  back  to  Labrador  and  Greenland,  these  silk- 
winged  stragglers,  flirting  in  corners,  were  abandoned 
by  their  chaperons,  and  for  thousands  of  years  their 
progeny  have  flitted  around  that  stone  crest  to  show 
us  the  depth  of  the  glacier." 

Professor  Cleveden  adjusted  his  eye-glasses  and 
moved  his  chair  so  as  to  look  straight  at  Miss  Man 
ning,  who  at  once  put  up  her  lorgnette  to  probe  his 
gold  spectacles. 

"Are  you  an  enthusiastic  club-woman?" 

"  Why  don't  you  ask  me  if  I  approve  of  perjury, 
arson,  and  poisoning?  " 

"  My  dear  madam,  did  I  not  hear  you  last  evening 
quoting  the  sonorous  periods  of  Mrs.  Helen  Phae 
dra  Swan  Hall,  whose  mission  seems  to  be  the 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  167 

emancipation  of  her  sex  from  bondage  to  God  as 
well  as  to  man  ?  " 

"  Oh,  no,  Mr.  Cleveden !  It  was  I  who  asked  Mr. 
Hull  to  explain  the  bill  she  is  trying  to  have  intro 
duced  in  Congress.  Cousin  Katrina  thinks  all  such 
advanced  women  should  be  locked  up  as  lunatics,  but 
she  is  too  extreme  and  hopelessly  narrow  for  this 
generation,  while  I  like  to  keep  up  with  the  proces 
sion.  Do  tell  us  about  this  prophetess." 

"  Her  husband  was  a  mild  man,  reputed  a  faithful 
husband  and  a  devoted  father,  but  the  female  comet 
he  was  yoked  with  indignantly  spurned  such  slavish 
role  as  wifehood  and  maternity  involved,  and  she 
ranted  around  clubdom  and  through  the  press,  striv 
ing  to  enlighten  the  world,  until,  finally,  she  deter 
mined  to  break  her  domestic  chains  and  shake  off  all 
impedimenta  of  marriage  obligations.  Having  de 
liberately  selected  as  successor  a  friend  whose  opin 
ions  proved  quite  as  lax  as  her  own,  she  promoted 
an  intimacy  that  resulted  in  accordance  with  her 
scheme.  Then  she  suggested  divorce  to  Hall, 
who  very  naturally  assented  with  alacrity.  When 
he  promptly  married  the  woman  chosen,  Mrs. 
Helen  Phaedra  Swan  gladly  abandoned  all  care 
of  her  own  children  to  the  new  wife,  washed  her 
hands  of  maternal  responsibility,  and  proclaimed 
herself  free  to  work  for  the  rights  of  woman  and 
the  enlightment  of  the  world.  Soaring  eagles 
scorn  to  perch  at  one  man's  hearthstone,  and  be 
hold  the  comical  climax  of  her  flight  above  the 
laws  of  decency  and  good  taste.  She  has  swooped 
down  on  a  new  husband,  and,  for  a  season  at  least, 
will  call  herself  Mrs.  Helen  Phaedra  Swan  Butler. 
Such,  Miss  Roberts,  is  your  '  prophetess/  Having 


168  A   SPECKLED  BIRD 

heard  that  the  pet  theme  of  her  present  lucubra 
tions  is  the  '  ideal  education  of  children/  I  suggested 
to  my  own  connubial  serf,  my  '  true  love/  that  the 
study  of  the  views  of  this  experienced  seeress  might 
assist  us  in  the  training  of  our  one  ewe  lamb,  our  old- 
fashioned  little  maid,  and  the  reception  of  my  prop 
osition  was  of  a  nature  conjugal  loyalty  forbids 
me  to  describe.  Mrs.  Helen  Phaedra  Swan  Butler 
is  merely  a  degenerate  imitation  of  the  Amazons, 
who  changed  their  husbands  annually  and  deserted 
their  children.  A  survival  of  polyandry,  if  you 
please.  Formerly  women  looked  sternly  and  sorrow 
fully  from  their  lofty  pure  plateau  upon  polygamy 
and  bigamy  as  the  horrible  heinous  luxury  of 
wicked,  despotic  men;  now  they  are  stepping  down 
into  the  mire,  claiming  equal  rights  in  sin,  and  the 
emancipated  new  female  clamors  for  easy  divorce  and 
the  freedom  of  polyandry.  In  other  days,  before 
'  higher  education,  club-culture,  and  female  rights  ' 
had  abolished  home  life,  domestic  sanctity,  and  fire 
side  lararium,  all  good  women  held  Clytemnestra  the 
infamous  archetype  of  feminine  depravity,  but  the 
doctrine  of  i  equality '  lowers  the  old  high  standard, 
and  the  new  code  reads :  '  She  had  as  good  a  right  to 
yEgisthus  as  Agamemnon  to  Chryseis.'  As  if  the 
gods  failed  to  overtake  both  in  their  sins." 

Miss  Manning  rang  a  silver  bell,  and,  rising,  tapped 
the  professor's  arm  with  her  lorgnette. 

"  Yet  you  have  the  audacity  to  ask  me  if  I  condone 
creatures  whose  real  aim  is  to  reverse  God's  decree 
of  the  sexes?  Trix  thinks  I  should  like  them  locked 
up  in  insane  asylums?  By  no  means.  I  should  pre 
fer  to  see  all  such  '  removed '  by  the  methods  you 
men  employ  when  brutes  become  afflicted  with  rabies 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  169 

and  glanders.  I  am  an  old  woman,  Mr.  Cleveden, 
but  I  do  object  to  the  way  in  which  you  '  scientists  ' 
dispense  with  conventional  verbal  draperies  in  dis 
cussing  some  questions.  After  all  is  said,  I  presume 
that  '  truth  '  you  are  worshipping  must  wear  clothes, 
and  there  is  no  need  to  confiscate  her  garments. 
Moreover,  you  are  not  to  believe  for  one  instant  that 
Miss  Roberts  means  half  of  the  idiotic  rubbish  she 
talks.  Girls  nowadays  think  it  chic  to  affect  fads, 
but  Trix  is  no  more  a  '  new  woman  '  than  I  am  a 
winged  saint.  Noel,  what  is  the  order  of  the  morn- 
ing?  " 

"The  senator  and  the  professor  wish  to  fish; 
Stapleton  and  I  are  bound  to  the  stable  and  kennel, 
and  later  to  the  billiard  table  to  settle  an  old  debt ; 
Mr.  Hull,  Eglah,  and  Miss  Beatrix  will  go  out  on  the 
launch,  and  the  phaeton  and  your  ponies  will  take 
you  and  Mrs.  Mitchell  to  see  the  finest  views  of  the 
lake  and  hills." 

"  I  much  prefer  to  see  your  dogs  and  watch  your 
billiard  game,  if  I  may,"  said  Miss  Roberts,  picking 
from  the  table  vase  some  scarlet  poppies  that  she 
fastened  in  her  belt. 

"  Miss  Manning,  do  come  with  us  on  the  lake;  the 
day  is  so  lovely."  Eglah  laid  an  appealing  hand  on 
the  grey  silk  sleeve,  and  Miss  Katrina's  keen  eyes 
softened. 

"  You  are  very  good  to  want  a  crusty  old  woman 
as  ballast,  but  I  am  not  fond  of  the  water.  The  wind 
is  no  respecter  of  grey  hairs,  takes  such  impertinent 
liberties  with  my  maidenly  curls,  and,  beside,  if  an 
accident  should  occur  I  can  swim  pnly  as  far  as  a 
cannon  ball  might,  and  of  course  in  an  emergency 
Mr.  Hull  would  devote  himself  exclusively  to  saving 


170  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

me,  hence  you  would  probably  drown.  Thank  you, 
Miss  Kent,  but  Mrs.  Mitchell  and  I  shall  do  our  best 
to  strangle  time  till  luncheon." 

During  that  long  drive  Eliza  was  kept  constantly 
on  guard,  parrying  questions  that  betrayed  an  earnest 
curiosity  relative  to  Mr.  Herriott's  standing  in  the 
senator's  family;  and  she  readily  divined  that  Eglah 
was  considered  a  formidable  obstacle  to  a  marriage 
long  desired  between  their  host  and  Beatrix  Roberts, 
the  youngest  of  several  unmarried  daughters  whose 
father  was  Miss  Manning's  second  cousin. 

"  And  why  do  you  think  Noel  will  never  marry?  " 

"Of  course,  madam,  I  can  only  conjecture;  but 
from  what  I  have  seen  of  Mr.  Herriott,  I  think  he  is 
very  happy  as  he  is,  and  if  he  desired  or  intended  to 
wed  any  one,  he  would  scarcely  be  so  eager  to  renew 
his  travels  in  distant  lands." 

"And  Miss  Kent?  Lovely,  refined-looking  woman, 
but  cold  as  a  frozen  mill  pond.  We  hear  she  has  had 
some  fine  offers.  The  world  wonders  for  whom  she 
is  waiting." 

"  As  far  as  I  know,  she  is  absolutely  indifferent. 
For  her  father  she  has  a  peculiarly  strong  and  tender 
affection,  and  I  shall  be  very  much  surprised  if  she 
ever  marries." 

When  she  returned  to  her  own  room,  she  felt  that 
she  had  stepped  down  from  the  witness  stand  after 
an  adroit  cross-examination,  in  which  she  had  main 
tained  her  non-committal  role.  As  the  pleasant  days 
passed,  she  and  Judge  Kent  watched  their  host,  hop 
ing  for  some  manifestation  of  tenderness,  or  pique,  or 
consciousness  of  past  suitor-claims  that  might  por 
tend  possibility  of  renewal.  No  faintest  evidence  of 
other  than  calm,  friendly,  hospitable  interest  re- 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  171 

warded  their  scrutiny.  If  it  were  indeed  complete 
surrender  of  hopes  once  cherished,  would  there  not 
have  been  traces  of  disappointment,  some  bitterness, 
some  cloud  on  face  and  manner? 

Although  she  was  unusually  free  from  coquetry, 
Eglah  was  too  familiar  with  the  moods  of  rejected 
lovers  not  to  observe  the  exceptional  demeanor  of 
the  master  of  Greyledge,  and  his  cool  insouciance 
would  have  perplexed  her  had  she  not  recollected 
his  assurance  that  no  word  of  his  should  ever  recall 
the  painful  interview  in  the  carriage.  She  noticed 
that  he  never  touched  her  arm  or  hand  if  it  could  be 
avoided,  and,  if  he  really  cared  for  her  society,  why 
did  he  invite  Roger  Hull  to  his  house  and  afford  him 
every  opportunity  to  monopolize  her  ?  The  weather 
continued  favorable;  the  guests  could  not  fail  to  re 
gret  the  approaching  end  of  their  visit,  and  Mr. 
Herriott  seemed  unusually  happy,  yet  he  had  ab 
stained  from  being  alone  with  Eglah. 

On  the  last  day,  at  the  close  of  dinner,  the  host 
proposed  that  coffee  and  cigars  should  be  served  on 
the  terrace  overhanging  the  water.  The  afternoon 
had  been  hot  and  sultry,  and  the  full  moon  rose  out 
of  a  tawny  haze  that  smouldered  at  the  horizon  but 
silvered  and  glistened  as  the  light  swam  through. 
Eliza  stole  away  to  pack  the  trunks,  and  Senator  Kent, 
the  professor,  and  Mr.  Hull  strolled  up  and  down 
smoking,  while  Miss  Roberts  and  Mr.  Stapleton  fol 
lowed  Mr.  Herriott  to  the  pavilion,  where  he  un 
locked  a  boat  and  fitted  the  oars.  Miss  Manning's 
favorite  anisette  had  accomplished  its  mission,  and 
her  white  head  was  bowed  on  the  billowy  lace  fichu 
that  covered  her  neck.  Noiselessly  Eglah  slipped 
into  the  loggia,  down  the  steps  leading  to  the  garden 


172  A   SPECKLED  BIRD 

beyond  the  courtyard,  and  ran  along  a  walk,  dark 
under  dense  overhanging  boughs.  For  a  little  while 
she  must  be  alone  to  ponder  the  first  really  stern 
words  her  father  had  ever  spoken  to  her.  They  were 
writing  letters  in  the  library  that  morning,  when 
Senator  Kent  turned  to  her. 

"  My  daughter,  I  must  tell  you  that  I  am  watching 
very  impatiently  for  the  announcement  of  your  ac 
ceptance  of  Herriott." 

"  Father,  you  will  never  hear  it." 

"  I  distinctly  refuse  to  believe  you  will  persist  in 
defying  my  wishes.  Hitherto  you  have  very  sweetly 
yielded  to  my  guidance  in  all  matters  of  importance, 
but  if  you  obstinately  and  foolishly  thwart  a  cherished 
plan  that  concerns  me  more  deeply  than  you  know, 
you  will  forfeit  my  forgiveness." 

"  I  will  never  marry  a  man  I  do  not  love " 

"  No  silly  rodomontade,  if  you  please,  my  dear. 
You  quite  understand  my  wishes." 

"  Father,  even  if  my  own  feelings  had  changed  suf 
ficiently  to  induce  me  to  give  him  a  different  answer, 
I  am  absolutely  sure  Mr.  Noel  will  never  renew  his 
offer;  and  this  fact  is  most  welcome,  because  it  re 
moves  all  possibility  of  my  obeying  you.  You  must 
see  that  he  is  now  simply  my  friend." 

"  Then  you  have  only  a  short  time  in  which  to 
recall  him.  Women  whistle  lovers  back  as  easily  as 
traps  catch  mice.  It  depends  solely  on  you,  and  I 
warn  you  now  of  bitter  consequences  unless  you  com 
ply  with— 

Miss  Roberts  and  Mr.  Stapleton  entered  the  li 
brary,  and  Eglah  retreated  to  her  own  room.  Dur 
ing  dinner  Eliza  and  Mr.  Herriott  noticed  the  un 
usual  flush  on  her  cheeks,  the  strained,  restless  ex- 


A   SPECKLED  WRD  173 

pression  of  her  eyes ;  but  neither  had  opportunity  for 
questioning,  and,  shielded  by  general  conversation, 
she  escaped  comment.  Sitting  opposite  at  table,  her 
father  had  once  looked  steadily  at  her. 

"  Eglah,  you  chance  to  have  the  fruit  I  covet  close 
to  your  hand.  Will  you  peel  me  a  peach?  " 

The  garden  walk  she  had  followed  divided,  and 
into  a  narrow  path  she  plunged,  finding  a  resting 
place  on  a  miniature  rockery  covered  with  fern  and 
periwinkle.  The  night  was  so  still  she  could  hear 
the  dip  of  oars  as  the  boat  left  shore,  and  far  away 
the  throbbing  of  a  steamer  whose  lights  flashed  across 
the  foam  as  it  sped  onward.  With  her  face  in  her 
hands,  Eglah  recalled  Eliza's  exasperating  question: 
"Why  was  Senator  Kent  afraid  of  Mr.  Herriott?" 
Was  he?  What  could  be  the  nature  of  the  trouble 
concealed?  If  Noel  were  cognizant  of  impending 
misfortune  she  felt  absolutely  sure  he  would  never 
consent  to  precipitate  it.  Because  she  could  share 
her  perplexity  with  no  one,  her  habitual  repose  of 
manner  forsook  her.  In  the  unexpected  rift  between 
her  father  and  herself  she  dispassionately  canvassed 
the  possibility  of  an  available  bridge,  and,  feeling  con 
fident  no  second  proposal  would  be  made  by  Mr. 
Herriott,  she  rejoiced  in  the  belief  that  his  silence 
would  effectually  bar  compliance  with  a  command 
she  entertained  no  thought  of  obeying.  She  saw  that 
he  had  deliberately  surrendered  her,  and,  unlike  most 
women,  she  was  profoundly  glad.  Now  and  then, 
when  he  looked  unusually  handsome  in  his  yachting 
suit,  and  again  in  full  evening  dress,  presiding  with 
ease  and  dignity  at  his  table,  Eglah  compared  her 
host  with  his  guests,  with  some  brilliant  men  she  had 
met  in  Washington  and  New  York,  and  always  he 


174  A   SPECKLED  BIRD 

seemed  aloof  and  superior  as  an  ivory  image  among 
terra-cotta  figurines.  Conscious  that  his  serene  self- 
poise  sprang  in  no  degree  from  personal  vanity  or 
pride  of  wealth,  she  admired  his  physical  perfection, 
and  wondered  why  all  his  excellences  had  no  more 
power  to  stir  her  heart  than  a  stained-glass  saint  in  a 
cathedral  window,  or  a  flawless  head  of  Hylas.  At 
such  moments  she  decided  God  had  designed  her  to 
be  only  a  daughter,  and  wifehood  had  no  alluring 
charms,  no  rosy  glamour. 

Out  of  the  dense  shadow  behind  the  mound  of 
periwinkle  came  a  sudden  rushing  sound,  a  sharp 
bark,  and  the  large  collie  Pilot  sprang  over  a  stone 
wall  and  bounded  up  to  the  rockery.  A  moment 
later  Mr.  Herriott  whistled,  vaulted  over  the  same 
wall,  and  stood  peering  into  the  clumps  of  shrubbery. 
Eglah  patted  the  dog,  hushed  him  in  a  whisper,  and 
shrank  closer  to  the  ground. 

"  Eglah !     Where  are  you  ?     Eglah !  " 

The  dog  barked,  and  his  master  came  forward. 

"  How  could  you  suspect  I  was  here  ?  " 

"  I  have  a  Turk's  nose  for  perfume.  I  am  partial 
to  prussic  acid  odors,  and  no  heliotrope  blooms  on 
this  side  of  the  garden.  Who  dared  send  you  to 
Coventry?  For  what  are  you  doing  penance,  here 
in  the  dark?" 

"  Simply  enjoying  the  delicious,  perfect  peace  that 
surrounds  this  special  nook  like  a  velvet  mantle. 
Were  you  hunting  for  me?" 

"  No.  I  supposed  you  were  in  the  loggia.  I  went 
for  a  few  minutes  to  the  small  house  beyond  the  wall, 
where  Amos  and  Susan  live.  She  has  been  sick  sev 
eral  days,  and  nothing  appeases  her  wrath  if  I  neglect 
to  say  good  night  to  her.  One  of  her  childish  whims 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  175 

is  that  I  shall  crack  her  almonds  and  filberts,  and  yes 
terday  when  I  demurred  and  turned  the  nut-crackers 
over  to  Amos  she  shed  tears,  declaring  his  hands  were 
not  always  above  suspicion,  and  that  as  she  had  per 
formed  this  service  for  me  before  I  was  promoted  to 
trousers  and  vests,  I  owed  it  to  her  now  since  she  has 
lost  her  teeth.  By  jumping  the  fence,  this  is  the 
short  cut  from  her  house  to  the  courtyard." 

"  Susan  was  your  nurse  ?  " 

'  Yes,  since  I  was  a  year  old,  and  she  has  been  very 
faithful  to  my  family." 

"  I  should  like  to  see  her." 

"  Then  you  shall  make  her  a  little  visit  to-morrow 
morning,  but  she  can  never  see  you;  she  is  entirely 
blind.  Eglah,  come  out  of  this  damp  corner.  The 
moonlight  is  brilliant,  and  there  is  a  beach-walk  I 
wish  to  show  you." 

As  she  rose  and  shook  her  draperies,  he  walked  in 
advance,  saying  over  his  shoulder: 

'  You  would  not  accept  my  arm,  for  I  am  sure 
you  need  both  hands  to  guard  your  lace  and  silk  frills 
from  thorns  and  twigs.  Here  is  the  garden  boun 
dary.  Take  care  not  to  trip  crossing  this  stile ;  come 
on,  only  three  steps.  Now  look  at  that  sickle  of  the 
beach,  with  its  long  row  of  silver  poplars  outlining  a 
frieze  around  the  land  side  of  the  curve.  Once  in  a 
furious  gale  that. drove  a  steamer  ashore — just  be 
yond  the  point — I  watched  those  distracted  trees  toss 
their  whitening  leaves,  as  though  hands  in  prayer,  and 
they  lean  always  inward,  shivering  with  prevision  of 
wrecks." 

Over  the  burnished  lake  a  full  moon  shone,  and 
here  and  there  a  sinuous  ripple  flashed  like  a  fiery 
serpent  as  it  glided  to  land,  then  slipped  back,  while 


176  A  SPECKLED  BIRD 

across  the  waste  of  water  floated  the  tinkling  of 
Beatrix's  mandolin  and  the  tenor  voice  of  her  escort. 
Mr.  Herriott  took  off  his  hat,  and  when  he  turned 
suddenly  to  his  companion  she  noticed  a  brilliant 
smile  on  his  face. 

"  Dana  is  very  happy  to-night,  and  I  am  glad  to 
carry  away  the  pleasant  consciousness  that  I  have 
done  everything  possible  in  smoothing  the  path  to  his 
heart's  goal." 

"  You  believe  he  will  win  her?  " 

"  I  certainly  hope  success  for  him.  Her  heart  is 
already  his,  and,  if  he  can  only  be  patient,  she  must 
ultimately  yield." 

'  You  think  that  in  such  matters  persistency  is  in 
vincible?  " 

"  On  the  contrary,  many  Jacobs  never  win  their 
Rachels;  and  my  prediction  fits  only  the  lovers  out 
yonder.  Aunt  Trina  will  wail  and  invoke  all  the 
Manning  family  ghosts,  but  the  pretty  hand  of  Miss 
Beatrix  will  follow  her  heart." 

Looking  up  at  him,  she  admitted  that  in  personal 
charm  he  surpassed  all  men  she  had  ever  met,  but 
into  this  verdict  entered  no  emotional  element  suffi 
ciently  strong  to  shiver  the  crystal  calm  of  her  heart, 
and  she  found  it  difficult  to  identify  this  handsome, 
placid,  smiling  countenance  with  a  white,  drawn, 
twitching  face  whose  keen  pain  had  recently  wrung 
tears  from  her  in  Washington. 

The  unusual  flush  had  faded,  leaving  her  cheeks  cool 
and  stainless  as  the  petals  of  a  white  rose,  and  the 
restless  spark  in  her  eyes  had  been  extinguished  by 
drops  that  were  never  allowed  to  fall.  Mr.  Herriott 
had  studied  her  face  too  many  years  not  to  detect  the 
new  strained  expression,  the  compression  of  lips  that 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  17? 

would  quiver,  and  all  his  jealous  surmises  focussed  on 
one  dread — Father  Temple. 

"  Shall  we  walk  on  slowly  ?  Not  far  off  is  a  seat. 
I  have  been  wishing  for  a  quiet,  uninterrupted  talk 
before  we  say  good-bye  for  an  indefinite  period,  and 
this  is  my  last  opportunity.  Eglah,  when  did  you 
hear  from  Vernon  Temple  ?  " 

"  I  cannot  recall  the  exact  date,  but  it  was  several 
weeks  ago.  We  do  not  really  correspond,  and  his 
occasional  notes  are  so  impersonal  that  in  replying  I 
sometimes  feel  as  if  I  were  addressing  an  abstraction. 
At  first  he  interested  me  extremely,  but  one  cannot 
easily  maintain  his  mystical  elevation  of  spirit." 

"  I  thought  you  were  really  fond  of  him." 

"  Knowing  as  you  do  that  I  have  absolutely  no 
faculty  for  growing  fond  of  people,  I  am  surprised 
you  should  have  made  the  mistake.  He  enlisted  my 
interest  in  some  of  his  benevolent  schemes,  especially 
a  '  sisterhood  '  for  care  of  infirm  indigents;  but  father 
has  no  sympathy  with  Vernon  or  his  vocation,  and, 
therefore,  I  have  been  less  impressed." 

"  At  one  time  you  were  extravagant  in  praise  of 
his  '  saintly,  magnetic  face.'  ' 

"  So  I  possibly  am,  or  have  been,  about  several  fine 
pictures  of  handsome,  bleeding  flagellants  and  tor 
mented  martyrs,  but  I  should  prefer  not  to  hang  them 
permanently  in  my  dining-room." 

"  Do  you  know  anything  of  your  cousin's  early 
life,  or  of  the  reasons  that  induced  him  to  join  his 
'Order'?" 

"  Nothing  whatever,  except  that  while  at  college 
he  was  ill,  and  one  of  father's  sisters  had  him  removed 
to  her  farmhouse,  where  he  remained  for  months  be 
fore  he  could  discard  crutches." 
12 


178  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

« 

Mr.  Herriott  stopped  and  turned  towards  her. 
Holding  his  hat  behind  him,  he  leaned  forward  and 
scanned  her  closely. 

"  Vernon  is  a  married  man,  and  his  wife  is  living." 

"  Is  it  possible !  If  any  one  else  had  told  me,  I 
should  doubt  it.  I  am  sure  father  knows  nothing  of 
the  wife.  Where  is  she  ?  Cher  die  z  la  femme  is  rarely 
a  satire." 

In  the  flood  of  moonlight  her  fair  face — expressive 
only  of  surprise — showed  no  vestige  of  emotion  that 
could  disquiet  him,  and  so  intense  was  his  relief  that 
for  a  moment  he  dared  not  trust  his  voice;  then  he 
put  on  his  hat  and  whistled  to  his  dog.  As  they 
walked  slowly  along  the  margin  of  the  lake,  he  told 
her  briefly  the  history  of  Father  Temple  and  the  re 
cent  discovery  of  his  wife  and  child. 

"  Thank  you  for  telling  me  such  pleasant  news.  I 
am  very  glad  poor  Vernon  will  have  that  angelic  boy 
to  comfort  him — but  '  Juno  '  ?  So  beautiful,  so  hard, 
so  bitter!  How  can  any  meek  priest  ever  hope  to 
manage  her?  " 

They  had  reached  the  point  of  the  sickle,  and 
looking  back  the  swelling  curves  of  wooded  hills, 
masses  of  glossy  shrubbery,  the  irregular  profile  of 
the  house,  outlined  by  its  twinkling  lights,  and 
the  vast  shimmering  mirror  of  the  great  lake,  all 
lay  bathed  in  liquid  gold.  Somewhere  in  a  neigh 
boring  copse  a  bird,  disturbed  by  the  dog  or  mis 
led  by  the  splendor  of  the  night,  twittered,  and 
then,  to  reassure  his  brooding  mate  near  by,  broke 
into  a  rapture  of  song.  Clasping  her  hands  behind 
her  head,  Eglah  lifted  her  face  to  listen,  and  Mr. 
Herriott  watched  the  moisture  glisten  on  her  lashes. 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  179 

"  Sweet  as  any  aubade  of  the  olden  time,  under 
olive  and  ilex,  is  it  not?  " 

For  a  moment  she  did  not  reply,  then,  with  a  sweep 
of  her  arm  toward  the  house  on  the  rocks,  she  said : 

"  So  beautiful,  so  full  of  peace — of  such  profound 
repose — how  can  you — why  will  you  leave  it  ?  " 

"  Because  I  do  not  forget  '  le  repos  est  une  bonne 
chose,  mais  I*  ennui  est  son  frere.'  I  love  and  enjoy 
my  home,  but  I  prefer  not  to  stagnate.  Garnering 
the  bright  and  charming  memories  of  the  past  few 
days,  it  can  never  again  seem  quite  as  lonely  as  I  have 
sometimes  found  it.  I  am  glad  you  have  met  Profes 
sor  Cleveden,  who  is  one  of  my  best  friends.  His 
domestic  relations  are  so  happy,  and  so  perfect  in 
their  adjustments,  that  no  forlorn  bachelor,  once  ad 
mitted  to  his  home,  could  escape  pangs  of  envy.  His 
wife  is  literally  partner  in  his  joys,  sorrows,  studies, 
and  diversions,  and  their  only  child — the  '  little  maid  ' 
Violet — is  spelling  in  the  alphabet  of  science.  Cleve 
den  swears  she  shall  be  locked  up  in  his  laboratory, 
safe  from  the  social  microbes  that  he  fancies  infest 
the  atmosphere  of  female  clubs  and  '  emancipated 
women.'  Some  day  I  hope  you  will  meet  Mrs.  Cleve 
den.  She  is  very  beautiful  and  gracious,  though  he 
assures  me  he  has  one  grievance  against  his  '  sweet 
heart,'  and  Patmore  expressed  it: 

"  '  Her  manners,  when  they  call  me  lord, 
Remind  me  'tis  by  courtesy; 
Not  with  her  least  consent  of  will.' ' 

"  Father  distrusts  the  professor,  and  cautioned  me 
not  to  discuss  any  religious  questions,  because  he  con 
siders  him  a  brilliant  casuist." 


180  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

"  Cleveden  has  one  apostle  whom  he  follows  at  all 
hazards  —  simple,  stern,  scientifically  established 
truth — and  to  him  the  natural  laws  are  as  sacred  as 
those  Moses  brought  directly  from  the  same  God 
who  framed  them  all.  For  mere  dogma  in  science  or 
religion  he  has  no  tolerance,  and  I  shall  never  forget 
the  profound  emotion  with  which,  in  a  lecture,  he 
quoted :  '  These  sciences  are  the  real  steps  in  the  great 
world's  altar-stairs  that  slope  through  darkness  up  to 
God.'  Revealed  religion  lets  down  a  ladder  from 
heaven ;  natural  sciences  are  the  solid  rungs  by  which 
men  like  Cleveden  build  and  climb.  Side  by  side 
these  ladders  rise,  never  crossing  at  sharp  angles, 
both  ending,  resting  at  the  feet  of  God.  Up  one 
spiritual  faith  runs  easily ;  along  the  other  some  souls 
of  different  mould  toilsomely  ascend,  each  and  all 
seeking  and  finding  the  same  goal — the  eternal  Ruler 
of  the  universe.  Cleveden  scoffs  at  nothing  but  shal 
low  shams,  and  we  have  heard  him  repeat  passages 
from  Job  and  David,  then  declaim  from  the  Iliad,  and 
declare  that  as  between  the  thunder  roll  of  Hebrew 
and  Greek,  the  latter  was  as  the  rustle  of  rushes  in  a 
summer  wind  to  the  pounding  of  Atlantic  surf  on 
rock-walled  shores." 

"  Nevertheless,  father  regrets  that  you  cling  to 
such  an  unsafe  guide." 

"  He  is  worthy  of  my  trust.  Conscientiously  hunt 
ing  only  for  truth,  he  admonishes  his  students : 

"  '  Hath  man  no  second  life? 
Pitch  this  one  high ! ' 

"  To  a  young  man  groping  in  the  mist  of  agnos 
ticism,  he  repeated  the  declaration  of  one  of  the  most 
subtle  scientific  thinkers  of  this  century :  '  That  he 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  181 

had  scrutinized  every  agnostic  hypothesis  he  knew  of, 
and  found  that  they  one  and  all  needed  a  God  to  make 
them  workable.' 

"  I  wish  I  could  respect  myself  as  I  respect  and 
honor  my  friend.  Eglah,  knowing  your  reticent  na 
ture,  I  am  perhaps  presumptuous  in  taking  a  rash 
step.  There  is  some  trouble  that  annoys  you.  Be 
fore  I  go  away  for  such  a  long,  uncertain  absence, 
will  you  trust  me?  I  may  not  be  able  to  remove  the 
burden,  but  I  should  be  glad  to  share  it.  Can  you 
tell  me  what  distresses  you  ?  " 

She  looked  at  him  steadily,  then  away  at  the  brood 
ing  water,  where  voices  of  the  night  had  begun  to 
croon. 

"  Mr.  Noel,  let  us  go  back ;  the  boat  is  at  the  ter 
race." 

When  they  reached  the  stone  stile,  she  said : 

"  Do  you  know  why  father  resigned  the  senator- 
ship?" 

"  He  has  not  confided  his  reasons  to  me." 

"  Having  known  him  so  long,  should  you  think 
that  his  state  of  health  demanded  such  a  step  ?  " 

"  His  appearance  at  present  does  not  indicate  any 
cause  for  alarm,  and  you  ought  not  to  conjure  a 
spectre  with  which  to  frighten  yourself." 

"  His  physician  did  the  conjuring." 

She  sat  down  on  the  stile,  and  in  her  strained,  sad 
gaze  he  measured  the  depth  of  her  disquietude. 

"  Mr.  Noel,  if  you  know  any  outside  circumstances 
that  appear  to  necessitate  or  warrant  this  sudden 
abandonment  of  a  brilliant  senatorial  career,  I  beg 
you  will  be  once  more  your  old,  kind,  candid  self  and 
tell  me.  If  I  understood  I  could  bear  it  better." 

'  You  think  your  father  is  perfectly  well?  " 


182  A  SPECKLED  BIRD 

"  I  cannot  see  the  change  he  insists  has  overtaken 
him  of  late ;  can  you  ?  " 

'  Yes.  Within  the  year  his  nervousness  and  want 
of  equipoise  have  been  apparent,  and  when  the  news 
papers  stated  that  his  '  medical  adviser '  had  recom 
mended  rest  and  Aix-les-Bains  I  was  rejoiced.  The 
atmosphere  of  Washington  is  the  worst  possible  for 
him.  When  do  you  sail?" 

"  On  the  twenty-fifth." 

"  Mrs.  Mitchell  accompanies  you?  " 

"  Of  course.  You  scarcely  understand  what  all 
this  means  to  me.  I  have  no  life  outside  of  father's. 
His  political  future  is  my  sole  horizon.  To  help,  fol 
low  close,  watch  his  ascent,  was  my  world.  This  sud 
den,  inexplicable  surrender,  this  stepping  down  and 
back  into  obscurity  and  inaction  leave  me  no  foot 
hold  on  coming  years,  and  I  feel  adrift.  Mr.  Noel, 
would  it  be  unreasonable  for  me  to  hope  that  when 
father  returns  in  vigorous  health  a  Cabinet  seat  or  a 
foreign  mission  might  be  offered  him  by  the  Repub 
lican  party  he  has  served  so  long,  so  faithfully?  " 

The  wistful  pathos  of  uplifted  eyes  that  searched 
his  stirred  all  the  tenderness  of  his  nature,  but  he 
allowed  himself  no  manifestation. 

"  If  you  anticipate  such  reward  for  your  father,  and 
then  lose  it,  disappointment  would  intensify  the  an 
noyance.  By  dismissing  the  expectation,  the  charm 
of  surprise  will  be  added  to  the  value  of  promotion. 
You  have  passed  the  age  of  soap  bubbles,  and  ought 
to  know  that  upon  political  preferment  no  man  can 
depend  with  certainty,  especially  in  a  republican 
country." 

"  I  shall  not,  will  not,  accept  defeat.  I  must  be 
patient  until  next  year,  and  then,  somehow — in  some 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  183 

way — we  shall  recover  our  kingdom.  I  am  so  proud 
of  father — ah,  so  proud !  " 

She  rose,  and  he  put  out  his  hand  to  assist  her,  but 
she  crossed  the  stile  without  touching  his  fingers,  and 
they  silently  approached  the  courtyard. 

At  a  late  hour,  when  the  party  dispersed,  Judge 
Kent  was  the  first  person  who  reached  his  own  room. 
Soon  after,  Eglah  tapped  at  his  door.  As  he  opened 
it,  a  flood  of  light  streamed  over  her  cold,  proud  face, 
and  his  keen  gaze  seemed  to  probe  her  soul. 

"Well?" 

She  shook  her  head  and  stretched  her  arms  towards 
him. 

"  Father " 

He  laid  a  finger  heavily  on  her  trembling  lips,  then 
turned  her  around,  pushed  her  gently  but  firmly  back 
from  the  threshold,  and  locked  the  door  on  the  inside. 

The  remaining  hours  of  the  night  Mr.  Herriott 
spent  pacing  slowly  the  beach-walk,  realizing  anew 
the  hopelessness  of  any  change  in  conditions  that 
barred  him  from  his  heart's  desire,  and  the  wisdom  of 
his  determination  to  travel  as  far  as  possible.  The 
moon,  magnified  by  mist  into  a  vast  sphere  of  silver, 
swam  in  the  west,  tipping  each  wavelet  with  a  glitter 
ing  fringe,  and  now  and  then  crooning  whispers  of 
the  great  expanse  of  water  seemed  to  swell  and  fill 
the  echoing  hollows  of  the  brooding  night. 

The  intense  bitterness  of  Mr.  Herriott's  reflections 
crept  into  his  voice. 

"  Loyal  soul !  Nobody  can  help  her  now.  Rude 
winds  have  blown  wide  the  guarded  gate  of  her  tem 
ple,  and  she  will  spend  her  life  on  her  knees,  trying 
to  regild  the  clay  feet  of  her  one  image." 


CHAPTER    XIV 

"  My  son,  Leighton  Dane  Temple,  I  baptize  thee 
in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the 
Holy  Ghost.  Amen." 

Other  than  baptismal  drops  fell  on  the  boy's  head, 
as  with  unsteady  lips  and  brimming  eyes  Father 
Temple  bent  over  him;  and  the  hand  that  adminis 
tered  the  rite  clung  tenderly  to  the  damp  curls.  The 
room  was  very  dim  and  still,  the  atmosphere  heavy 
with  the  breath  of  tuberoses  clustered  on  the  pillow, 
and  the  figure  sitting  at  the  foot  of  the  cot  with  her 
arms  folded,  manifested  by  sound  or  motion  no  more 
interest  than  a  stone  image.  On  the  mantel  shelf  was 
the  tin  box  bearing  her  name,  and  many  days  before 
letters,  newspapers,  and  money  had  testified  to  the 
truth  of  her  husband's  statements,  but  to  its  contents 
she  made  no  allusion,  allowed  none.  Their  estrange 
ment  was  too  complete  to  be  bridged  even  by  words 
when  avoidance  was  possible.  Occasionally,  as  he 
entered  or  left  the  room,  she  acknowledged  his  salu 
tation  by  a  slight  inclination  of  her  head ;  but  usually 
sullen  silence  and  apparent  unconsciousness  of  his 
presence  showed  how  bitterly  she  resented  a  presen 
tation  of  facts  that  pleaded  his  exculpation.  She 
hugged  her  wrongs,  and  any  attempt  to  minimize  his 
guilt  infuriated  her.  Her  ruined  life  was  an  acrid 
dead  sea,  into  which  no  sweetness  could  fall,  and  she 
clung  to  its  most  loathsome  aspects  with  a  grim  stub- 
borness  unnatural  and  incomprehensible  in  women 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  185 

of  a  different  type.  The  boy's  death  had  seemed  im 
minent  more  than  once,  and  though  he  rallied  again 
and  again,  the  sands  were  surely  near  the  end,  run 
ning  low. 

Two  weeks  after  his  baptism,  Father  Temple  se 
cured  for  him  and  his  mother  rooms  at  an  old  farm 
house  on  Long  Island,  not  very  far  from  a  railroad 
village. 

To  the  weary  child,  sick  of  city  heat,  city  din, 
and  all  the  complex  elements  that  make  tenement 
life  an  affliction  to  sensitive  natures,  there  seemed 
a  foretaste  of  that  heaven  to  which  he  was  hast 
ening,  in  the  cool,  vine-laced  porch  where  wrens 
nested,  the  elm-shaded  yard,  blue  with  larkspurs, 
and  the  green-carpeted  orchard  of  low-spreading 
apple  and  towering  cherry  trees,  that  formed  a  quiv 
ering  loom  of  boughs  casting  gilt  network  of  braided 
sunbeams  on  purple  heads  of  clover.  Outside  the 
picket  fence  that  enclosed  the  fruit  trees  a  meadow 
rolled  seaward,  and  in  one  of  its  deep  dimples  a  small 
clear  pond  shone  like  a  mirror  whereon  an  enormous 
willow  trailed  its  branches  and  watched  itself  grow 
old.  Across  this  meadow  ox-eye  daisies  ran  riot,  so 
densely  massed,  so  tall,  they  seemed  great  stretches 
of  snow,  and  only  when  the  wind  swept  them  into 
billows  were  green  stems  discernible. 

Father  Temple  had  found  convenient  quarters  in  the 
neighboring  village,  and  each  day  he  walked  to  the 
little  farm,  where  the  feverishly  bright  eyes  of  the  boy 
glowed  with  more  intense  brilliance  at  his  approach. 
Leighton's  sensitive  nature  responded  to  every  spir 
itual  appeal  his  father  attempted,  as  though  some  sub 
tle,  dormant  chord  of  sympathy  once  set  in  vibration 
would  never  cease  to  thrill.  Sometimes,  watching  the 


186  A   SPECKLED  BIRD 

happy,  rapt  expression  on  her  child's  face  as  the 
priest  read  or  talked  or  prayed  with  him,  a  jealous 
rage  seized  the  mother,  shaking  her  into  fierce  revolt, 
and  she  shut  her  eyes,  set  her  teeth,  put  her  hands  to 
her  ears,  and  mutely  fought  down  her  fury.  On  such 
occasions,  conscious  of  her  suffering,  he  shortened  his 
visit,  carrying  away  an  accession  of  heartache  over  the 
utter  hopelessness  of  any  form  of  reconciliation. 

On  the  morning  of  the  anniversary  of  his  marriage, 
as  he  walked  along  the  lane  leading  to  the  farm 
house,  a  flood  of  reminiscences  drowned  all  the  in 
tervening  years,  and  once  more  he  stood  under  the 
stars  at  the  Post,  holding  Nona  in  his  arms.  Could 
she  forget  the  date?  Would  the  sweet,  warm  wind 
of  tender  memory  fresh  from  the  happy  day  their 
love  had  sanctified,  breathe  no  melting  magic  on  her 
frozen  nature?  Until  recently  he  had  shared  the  cur 
rent  belief — "  tout  coniprendre  c'est  tout  pardonner  " 
— because  of  the  limitless,  patient,  condoning  affec 
tion  inhering  in  true  wifehood,  but  the  teamster's 
daughter  was  a  law  unto  herself,  and  taught  him 
that  some  women,  who  love  most  intensely  and  faith 
fully,  forgive  not  at  all. 

As  he  entered  the  sick  room  he  detected  in  Leigh- 
ton's  usually  gentle  voice  a  note  of  fretfulness.  His 
mother  stood  beside  the  bed,  holding  a  cluster  of 
daisies,  which  he  had  rejected. 

"  My  darling,  I  gathered  them  where  they  grew 
finest,  and  these  are  as  pretty  indoors  as  out  on  the 
meadow." 

She  laid  them  beside  him,  but  he  turned  his  face 
away. 

"  There's  father !     He  will  understand." 

She  moved  away  to  the  window  and  stood  with 


A  SPECKLED  BIRD  187 

face  averted.  Father  Temple  took  the  child's  out 
stretched  hand. 

"  Father,  why  can't  I  be  carried  out  yonder,  where 
the  daisies  are  spread  like  sheets  ?  I  want  to  lie  down 
a  little  while,  and  feel  them  cover  me,  and  listen  to 
the  bees — and  out  there  I  can  breathe  easier.  Mother 
will  not  let  me,  says  I  might  catch  cold;  as  if  the  sun 
shine  could  make  me  worse.  Why  can't  I  go  ?  " 

"  My  son,  I  fear  you  had  a  bad  night,  and  your 
mother  is  a  better  judge  than  I,  because  she  never 
leaves  you.  If  she  approved,  I  would  gladly  take  you 
to  the  daisies." 

"  She  refused  to  move  me  down  here,  but  you 
brought  me." 

"  It  was  the  doctor,  not  I,  who  induced  her  to 
consent." 

"  Oh,  I  want  to  go  where  the  daisies  are  calling  me ! 

Don't  you  see  how  they  turn  and  beckon  and " 

His  feeble  voice  broke  in  a  sob. 

"  Mother's  man  must  have  his  milk  punch,"  said 
Nona,  going  into  the  next  room  to  prepare  it. 

Instantly  the  boy  whispered : 

"  Father,  pick  me  up,  and  carry  me;  quick! " 

After  a  moment  Father  Temple  went  into  the  ad 
joining  apartment.  His  wife  stood  shaking  the  milk 
into  froth,  and  her  glance  slipped  from  his  face  with 
no  more  evidence  of  recognition  than  if  she  had 
looked  at  the  wall. 

"  Nona,  there  has  been  a  dreadful  change  since 
yesterday.  The  time  will  soon  come  when  you  can 
find  comfort  only  in  remembering  you  denied  him 
nothing.  Well  wrapped  up,  a  few  moments  in  the 
sunshine  will  not  harm  him." 

She  passed  him  without  reply,  and  when  the  milk 


188  A   SPECKLED  BIRD 

punch  had  been  given,  she  stooped  suddenly  and 
kissed  her  child  twice.  His  wasted  arms  crept  feebly 
to  her  neck. 

"  Please,  mother — the  daisies." 

"  If  I  let  you  go  a  little  while,  you  must  not  ask  to 
stay." 

She  buttoned  his  flannel  dressing-gown  about  his 
throat,  wrapped  him  in  her  shawl,  and  put  on  his 
little  grey  cloth  cap. 

Taking  a  light  blanket  from  the  bed,  Father  Tem 
ple  lifted  the  emaciated  form,  cradled  him  tenderly  in 
his  arms,  and  bore  him  across  the  orchard.  The 
mother  preceded  them,  opened  and  closed  the  gate, 
and,  when  they  reached  the  meadow,  she  withdrew 
to  the  brink  of  the  pond,  sat  down  under  the  ancient 
willow,  and  locked  her  hands  in  her  lap.  Close  by, 
on  a  knoll,  the  blanket  had  been  spread;  Leighton 
was  laid  upon  it,  and  feebly  stretching  his  arms  drew 
the  daisies  over  him  until  they  veiled  the  shrunken 
figure,  and  only  the  wan  face  and  golden  curls  were 
visible.  In  a  pale-blue  sky  the  sun  shone  hot ;  white 
butterflies  swam  lazily  to  and  fro,  like  drifting  blos 
soms  from  interstellar  gardens;  a  sheep  bell  tinkled 
now  and  then,  and  from  the  south,  a  freshening  wind 
bore  echoes  of  the  ceaseless  chant  of  the  heaving  sea. 

Out  of  the  flowery  coverlet  Leighton's  hand  stole, 
feeling  for  his  father's  fingers,  and  a  happy  light 
shone  in  the  boy's  violet  eyes,  but  his  breathing  had 
grown  quick  and  painfully  labored.  Suddenly  he 
struggled  up,  leaning  against  his  father's  shoulder. 

"  What  ails  the  sun?    Mother !    Where's  mother?  " 

One  of  those  swift,  ghostly  fogs  that  spring  with 
out  warning  from  the  ocean  was  sweeping  inland,  and 
as  sunlight  smote  the  advancing  pillars  of  mist  it 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  189 

seemed  transmuted  into  battlements  and  towers  of 
some  city  of  silver.  Strained  maternal  ears  had 
caught  the  boy's  faint  cry,  and  Nona  knelt,  clasping 
him  close,  resting  his  head  on  her  bosom.  His  wide 
and  wondering  eyes  were  fixed  on  the  strange,  shin 
ing  wall  drawing  swiftly  nearer. 

"  The  gates  of  heaven !     Mother,  mother " 

A  moment  later  the  chill  waves  of  mist  flowed  over 
them,  blotting  out  the  sun. 

Under  that  grey  pall,  daisy-dotted,  the  blue  eyes 
closed;  the  pure,  lovely  face,  still  smiling,  lay  white 
against  his  mother's  cheek. 

Not  always  comes  imperial  death  as  pacificator; 
now  and  then  the  flame  of  vengeance  leaps  through 
the  shroud  of  shadows,  and  sometimes  open  graves 
typify  wider,  deeper  chasms  that  know  no  closing. 
There  are  natures  who  prefer  total  surrender  rather 
than  any  sharing  of  that  which  they  hold  dearest; 
and  of  such  was  the  pallid,  dry-eyed  mother,  lying 
hour  after  hour  on  the  bed  where  her  fragile  boy 
slept  his  last  sleep. 

His  head  rested  on  her  right  arm,  and  with  her  left 
hand  she  had  drawn  his  icy  fingers  inside  her  dress, 
trying  to  warm  them  on  the  breast  where  in  infancy 
they  toyed.  Since  the  moment  she  had  snatched  him 
from  the  meadow  couch  of  daisies  and  borne  him 
unaided  to  the  farmhouse,  no  one  was  allowed  to 
touch  him,  and  the  angel  who  called  and  guided  the 
young  soul  to  God  was  more  welcome  than  the  hu 
man  father  daring  to  claim  him.  During  the  long 
night  of  her  last  vigil,  the  priest,  pacing  an  adjoining 
room,  wondered  at  the  stern  repression  of  her  grief; 


190  A   SPECKLED  BIRD 

and  only  once,  through  the  half-open  door,  came  a 
frantic  cry,  ending  in  a  low,  quivering  wail. 

"  Mother's  man !  Mother's  own  pretty — pretty — 
darling  baby!  Oh " 

An  hour  later,  when  he  ventured  to  re-enter  the 
room,  he  knew  the  one  passionate  outbreak  signalled 
her  final  surrender.  She  had  lifted  the  little  wasted 
form  from  the  bed  and  laid  him  in  a  coffin  resting  on 
a  low  table;  covering  all  but  the  delicate,  chiselled  face 
and  shining  hair  with  a  thick  shroud  of  daisies. 

Now,  with  hands  locked  in  her  lap,  she  sat  leaning 
her  head  against  the  coffin.  Tears  he  could  not  re 
press  fell  as  the  father  bent  down  to  the  casket,  but 
she  put  her  arm  across  it,  barring  him. 

"  Don't !     You  must  not  touch  my  baby." 

Sinking  to  his  knees  he  put  his  hand  on  the  fingers 
lying  in  her  lap. 

"  Oh,  Nona !     Eleven  years  ago  to-night !  " 

She  pushed  his  hand  aside,  and  when  he  bowed  his 
head  on  her  knee,  she  moved  her  chair  back  to  avoid 
the  touch. 

"  My  wife- " 

"  No.  I  am  no  man's  wife.  I  can't  forget,  and  I 
don't  wish  to  forgive,  even  if  I  could.  I  want  you  to 
understand  that  I  would  rather  see  my  darling  where 
he  is  than  have  him  live  for  you  to  come  between  us. 
The  Nona  you  knew  died  ten  years  ago,  when  in 
sulted,  and  slandered,  and  despised  I  washed  and 
ironed  for  money  to  clothe  and  feed  my  little  father 
less  one — my  own  beautiful  little  baby." 

She  laid  her  hand  on  the  cold  head  and  fondled  the 
golden  rings  of  hair,  but  no  moisture  dimmed  the 
large,  mournful  eyes  that  defied  her  husband's  plead 
ing. 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  j.91 

A  moment  later  she  added,  in  a  stinging  tone : 

"  After  to-morrow  you  will  have  no  excuse  to  in 
trude  upon  me;  with  a  childless,  hopeless,  desperate 
woman  you  can  meddle  no  more,  and  I  shall  contrive 
to  save  myself  the  intolerable  sight  of  your  face.  In 
your  tin  box  you  will  find  the  money  I  have  not 
touched,  but  the  papers  I  burned  to-night;  because 
in  the  grave — my  baby's  grave — certificates  of  legiti 
macy  are  not  required.  I  wish  no  record  retained 
of  any  association  or  tie  with  you,  and  henceforth  I 
want  to  hear  neither  from  nor  of  you.  For  ten  years 
what  heart  I  had  left  beat  only  for  my  baby,  and  his 
precious  little  hands  will  always  hold  it  tight  in  his 
coffin.  After  to-morrow  my  work  waits  for  me,  and 
your  path  and  mine  will  cross  no  more." 

Up  and  down  the  room  Father  Temple  walked, 
striving  to  master  his  emotion.  Pausing  in  front  of 
her,  he  asked  very  tenderly: 

"  May  I  know  where  and  what  is  the  work  my  son's 
mother  has  selected?" 

"It  is  everywhere;  the  struggle  of  the  poor  to 
loosen  the  strangling  clutch  of  the  rich  on  their 
throats;  the  cruel  war  which  will  end  only  with  the 
downfall  of  aristocrats,  when  millionaires  will  be  hunted 
like  other  criminals,  when  cowardly  sons  of  rich  army 
officers  can  dare  to  marry  publicly  the  daughters  of 
their  regimental  teamsters,  and  when  a  pure  woman, 
because  she  is  pure,  will  be  as  much  respected  as  a 
crowned  head.  You  preach  '  he  that  giveth  to  the 
poor  lendeth  to  the  Lord.'  We  have  a  different  doc 
trine,  a  broader  gospel.  When  justice  reigns  there 
will  be  no  poor,  no  hoarded  surplus  of  dishonest 
riches,  no  '  benevolent  fund  '  doled  out  by  '  philan 
thropic  '  pharisees  to  the  workers  whose  labor  created 


192  A   SPECKLED  BIRD 

it.  In  that  day,  no  poor  girls  in  reeking  tenements 
will  be  goaded  by  the  sight  of  fashionable  society 
women,  who  drink,  and  smoke,  and  gamble,  and  loll 
half  clad  in  opera  boxes,  and  hug  their  lap  dogs  and 
their  lovers  instead  of  their  children.  In  that  day 
society  lines  will  vanish,  and  only  two  classes  exist — 
workers  and  drones,  governed  by  beehive  laws.  To 
aid  in  this  is  all  I  care  for  now — all  that  remains  for 
me — and  my  work  will  be  well  done." 

She  had  spoken  in  a  cold,  defiant  tone,  keeping  her 
eyes  on  the  coffin  and  her  fingers  on  the  child's  curls, 
but  after  a  moment  a  spasm  of  anguish  shook  her 
mercilessly,  and,  rising,  she  pointed  to  the  door,  say 
ing,  between  strangling  sobs: 

"  Leave  me,  and  shut  the  door.  I  have  all  I  can 
bear  now.  Leave  me  alone  with  my  little  one." 


CHAPTER    XV 

Aix-les-Bains  proved  a  successful  prescription,  and 
Judge  Kent  declared  himself  cured;  but  two  silent 
women  knew  he  could  obtain  only  a  modicum  of 
sleep,  and  noted  the  fact  that  when  the  daily  mail — 
nervously  expected  and  handled — had  been  scanned 
he  grew  gay  and  chatty.  After  sixteen  months  on 
the  continent,  he  settled  for  a  while  at  Taormina,  and 
here  his  companions  were  surprised  to  learn  that  his 
business  agent  had  sold  every  foot  of  real  estate  he 
owned  in  America,  including  the  Herriott  house  in 
New  York,  and  the  old  homestead  built  in  an  elm 
grove  among  the  bleak,  stony  hills  of  New  England. 

"  Father,  when  was  the  house  in  Thirty-eighth 
Street  sold?" 

"  Soon  after  we  reached  Aix." 

"  And  you  never  told  me?  " 

"  Why  should  I  ?  Herriott  might  cherish  some 
sentiment  about  it,  but  the  matter  touched  you  in  no 
way." 

"  At  least  I  should  like  to  know  who  bought  it." 

"  Herriott.  While  at  Greyledge  I  told  him  it 
would  be  on  the  market,  and  he  instructed  his  agent 
to  make  the  purchase." 

"  Had  I  known  in  time,  Mr.  Whitfield  might  have 
invested  some  idle  money.  I  like  those  cool,  big, 
old-fashioned  rooms." 

"  I  entertain  no  doubt  that  sooner  or  later  they  will 
13 


194  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

be  yours.  Mrs.  Mitchell,  may  I  trouble  you  for  the 
'  Figaro  '  at  your  elbow?  " 

"  Who  owns  the  old  homestead  that  has  belonged 
to  some  Kent  for  two  hundred  years?  " 

1  The  town  has  grown  until  it  needs  a  juvenile 
'  reformatory/  and  one  is  now  in  course  of  erection 
where  my  old  barn  stood  so  long.  A  better  site  could 
not  have  been  found,  or  one  more  vigilantly  patrolled 
by  orthodox  puritan  ghosts." 

"  Have  you  no  regrets  when  you  think  of  strangers 
possessing  the  little  family  burying  ground  where 
some  of  your  ancestors  long  ago  crumbled  to  dust?  " 

Eglah  lifted  her  hand  to  brush  away  an  orange 
petal  that  drifted  down  to  the  velvet  collar  of  his 
coat,  and  Eliza  knew  that  the  perpendicular  line  be 
tween  her  brows  indexed  profound  dissatisfaction. 

"  Regrets  are  unprofitable,  and  what  remains  of  my 
life  must  pay  dividends.  My  dear,  will  you  kindly 
hand  me  my  match  box?" 

"  Then  you  are  homeless?  " 

Smiling  blandly,  he  bowed  to  her. 

"  I  trust  not,  while  my  daughter  owns  thousands 
of  acres  of  the  finest  land  in  the  South." 

"  Do  you  forget  how  often  you  have  declared  you 
would  never  again  live  south  of  Washington  ?  " 

"  I  forget  nothing,  but  circumstances  are  not  as 
fixed  as  parallels  of  latitude,  and  changed  conditions 
demand  readjustment  of  plans.  Irrevocability  trav 
elled  into  limbo  with  ancient  Medes  and  Persians, 
and  after  the  first  of  May  I  hope  I  may  count  upon 
the  traditional  hospitality  of  Nutwood.  You  are 
of  age,  and  have  the  right  to  occupy  it." 

Slowly  but  steadily  the  barrier  between  father  and 
child  had  risen  and  strengthened  since  the  visit  to 


A  SPECKLED  BIRD  195 

Greyledge — a  wall  as  of  crystal,  which  she  could 
neither  level  nor  penetrate.  Close  to  him,  having 
him  apparently  within  touch,  yet  conscious  always 
that  a  transparent  obstacle  divided  them.  To  the 
cause  of  estrangement  he  never  referred,  even  indi 
rectly,  and  he  was  neither  irritable  nor  stern,  but 
mercilessly  cold  and  punctiliously  courteous.  Why 
he  had  selected  Taormina  in  preference  to  Palermo 
was  known  only  to  himself,  but  one  morning  Eliza 
and  Eglah  saw  a  letter  postmarked  Catania,  and  froth 
recognized  Mr.  Herriott's  peculiarly  bold  handwrit 
ing.  Judge  Kent  read  it,  returned  it  to  the  envelope, 
which  he  put  in  his  pocket,  and  unfolded  a  New  York 
newspaper.  Mrs.  Mitchell  moved  away  to  a  distant 
window,  carrying  her  embroidery  frame  and  silks, 
and  Eglah  opened  the  piano  and  played  softly  two 
of  Chopin's  nocturnes.  In  the  mirror  opposite  she 
saw  that  her  father  was  listening,  beating  time  with 
the  index  finger  of  his  right  hand.  When  she  ended 
and  approached  him,  he  shut  his  eyes  and  hummed 
the  final  bars. 

"  Father,  why  did  you  come  here  for  so  long  a 
stay?" 

"  It  is  convenient  to  Catania  and  on  the  road  to 
Messina." 

"  You  knew  that  Mr.  Herriott  expected  to  be 
there?" 

"  I  know  that  he  has  a  scientific  friend  there  who 
is  an  expert  in  all  that  pertains  to  seismology,  and 
that  he  wishes  Herriott  to  see  his  seismographs." 

"  That  fact  should  in  no  degree  influence  our  move 
ments." 

"  Speak  solely  for  yourself,  my  dear.     I  particu- 


196  A  SPECKLED  BIRD 

larly  desire  to  see  Herriott  before  he  starts  from 
Tromso  on  his  trip  to  the  midnight  sun." 

Leaning  forward,  his  fine  dark  eyes  fixed  on  hers, 
he  lowered  his  voice. 

"  A  separation  of  eighteen  months  must  have 
brought  you  to  a  realization  of  your  blind  folly,  and 
it  is  necessary  that  you  should  have  an  opportunity 
to  retrieve  your  error.  Herriott  comes  to-day." 

"  A  lifetime — a  thousand  years  would  make  no 
difference  with  me.  I  am  glad  to  know  that  he  will 
never  ask  me  a  second  time  to  marry  him,  and  if  he 
should,  I  could  not,  and  I  would  not.  Oh,  father! 
Put  that  idea  out  of  your  mind,  and  give  me  back 
my  own  place  in  your  heart." 

She  came  close  and  tried  to  embrace  him,  but  he 
held  her  back  at  arm's  length. 

"  I  love  only  those  who  obey  me;  and  defiance  I 
never  forgive.  Until  you  come  to  an  appreciation 
of  your  duty  as  regards  my  unalterable  wishes,  I  must 
request  you  not  to  touch  me,  not  to  expect  any  notice 
from  me,  except  such  social  courtesies  as  one  cannot 
avoid." 

"  I  am  the  price  of  something  Mr.  Herriott  alone 
can  sell  you  ?  What  is  it  you  wish  to  buy  ?  " 

"  Your  future  happiness,  and  my  peace  of  mind." 

"  Distinctly,  I  decline  to  be  sold." 

He  smiled,  put  her  aside,  drew  his  chair  out  upon 
a  balcony,  and  resumed  reading  his  newspaper. 

The  conversation  had  been  inaudible  to  Eliza,  but, 
putting  out  her  hand,  she  rose  quickly  at  sight  of  a 
white  face  where  the  large  eyes  glowed  as  on  the 
memorable  day  in  the  pavilion  at  Nutwood. 

Looking  steadily  before  her,  Eglah  passed  into  an 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  197 

adjoining  room  and  locked  the  door.  Some  hours 
later  she  laid  a  note  on  Mrs.  Mitchell's  lap. 

"  I  am  going  to  sit  a  while  in  the  old  Greco-Roman 
theatre.  I  shall  come  back  when  I  am  tired.  Please 
ask  no  questions." 

Through  one  of  the  arches,  built  twenty-three  cen 
turies  ago,  she  looked  out,  wondering  if  any  change 
could  enhance  the  charm  that  lay  like  a  magic  mantle 
over  the  visible  world.  The  purple  sea  broke  in  a 
tangled  fringe  of  silver  on  the  curving  beach,  ^tna, 
snow  hooded,  rose  a  vast  altar  far  away,  with  thin, 
tapering  feather  of  smoke  floating  as  incense  from 
its  Plutonian  cavern;  and  gaunt,  gnarled  olive  or 
chards  made  a  luminous  grey  background  for  pink 
plumes  of  almond  trees,  scarlet  pomegranates,  rose 
oleanders,  and  orange  and  lemon  groves  white  with 
bloom  that  fell  like  a  fragrant  shower  on  crimson 
tulips  and  waxen  cyclamen.  In  the  witchery  of  her 
surroundings,  thronged  with  beckoning  spectres  of 
Greek,  Roman,  Saracen,  and  Norman  legends,  Eglah 
had  hitherto  been  able  to  forget  on  this  spot  all  but 
the  entrancing  beauty  of  the  wonderful  old  cliffs ;  yet 
this  afternoon  sombre  shadows  seemed  to  shroud  a 
smiling  sea  and  land,  menacing  as  the  smoking  moun 
tain  that  cast  its  perpetual  challenge  to  a  sapphire 
sky. 

The  vague  anxiety,  the  tenderly  regretful  pain 
long  gnawing  at  her  heart,  had  given  place  now  to 
angry  indignation,  and  a  humiliating  consciousness 
of  her  father's  persistent  and  increasing  desire  to  bar 
ter  her,  body  and  soul,  for  something  that  Mr.  Her- 
riott  possessed.  Not  his  great  wealth,  her  own  for 
tune  was  sufficiently  ample;  not  his  social  influence, 
since  political  aspirations  had  come  to  an  untimely 


198  A   SPECKLED  BIRD 

end;  there  was  no  animosity  to  be  conciliated,  no 
strained  personal  relations  existed,  only  a  mild  friend 
ship  manifested  by  occasional  correspondence.  Her 
conjectures  ran  around  a  baffling  circle  marked  only 
by  the  starting  post,  "  what?  "  "  why?  "  Nemesis  is 
not  always  so  intent  on  pursuit  of  the  culprit  that  she 
can  forego  the  parenthetic  pastime  of  striking  at  the 
innocent  who  may  chance  to  stand  between,  and 
Eglah  had  begun  to  entertain  a  bitter  resentment 
against  Mr.  Herriott — the  only  visible  factor  in  her 
father's  alienation — despite  her  firm  conviction  that 
he  would  never,  by  a  renewed  proposal,  smooth  the 
way  to  a  consummation  of  the  desired  sale. 

The  strong  sense  of  dispassionate  justice  on  which 
she  prided  herself  upbraided  her  sharply,  but  the  in 
tolerable  disappointments  of  the  last  eighteen  months 
shook  her  from  the  calm,  cool  heights  of  impersonal 
reasoning.  As  she  leaned  her  bare  head  against  the 
pillar  of  an  arch  through  which  presageful  Greek 
chorus  chants — ages  ago — had  drifted  away  to  sea, 
her  upturned  face  was  shown  in  clear  relief,  like  ivory 
features  on  a  dull-red  background.  Gowned  in 
grey  cloth,  she  had  clustered  lemon  blossoms  around 
the  cameo  fastening  her  belt,  and  across  her  lap  lay 
a  branch  of  acanthus,  its  pale,  delicate  lilac  flowers 
springing  among  the  curved,  glossy  leaves. 

From  a  neighboring  angle  in  the  portico,  to  which 
Mr.  Herriott  had  noiselessly  ascended,  his  eager,  hun 
gry  eyes  watched  her,  studied  her,  and  through  a  mist 
of  unconquerable  tenderness  he  noted  the  changes 
time  had  printed  on  the  frank,  fair  face — so  much 
older,  so  pale,  so  hard,  so  sullen  rather  than  sorrowful. 
The  light  of  youthful  hope  in  her  lovely  eyes  had  been 
driven  away  by  some  ugly  fact  always  confronting 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  199 

her,  and  the  sensitive  lips  were  set  tight,  stern,  piti 
less.  Who  or  what  was  the  Gorgon  that  had  frozen 
the  exquisite  face  he  loved  so  passionately?  More 
than  grief  was  written  there,  and  he  who  had  so  long 
interpreted  its  phases  read  the  dominant  emotion,  in 
dignant  protest  against  some  wrong.  Over  the  crest 
of  ^Etna  the  sinking  sun  hovered,  and  in  the  won 
derful  radiance,  that  seemed  woven  of  vast  rainbows 
into  some  celestial  garment  for  sea  and  land,  Mr. 
Herriott  came  out  of  his  niche  and  stood  before  her. 

"  I  am  very  glad  to  see  you  here,  Eglah.  It  seems 
so  long  since  we  parted  at  Greyledge." 

He  held  out  both  hands,  and,  without  rising,  she 
put  up  one  of  hers,  but  he  saw  the  swift  frown,  the 
undisguised  annoyance  his  presence  caused.  There 
had  been  no  opportunity  for  fastening  a  mask,  or 
forcing  perfunctory  smiles,  and  upon  her  frank  truth 
fulness  and  scorn  of  dissimulation  he  relied  implicitly. 
Very  tenderly  he  covered  her  cold  fingers  with  his 
warm  palms,  and,  as  she  withdrew  them,  he  seated 
himself  on  a  stone  at  her  side. 

"  Who  has  put  me  in  your  black  books?  Not  a 
word  of  welcome  for  a  travel-weary  vagrant  starving 
for  friendly  recognition?  " 

She  looked  coldly  at  him,  but  something  in  his  fine, 
magnetic  eyes,  his  caressing  tone,  touched  her  into 
self-reproach. 

"  If  ever  you  should  get  into  my  black  book,  you 
will  have  put  yourself  there.  Mr.  Herriott,  I  am 
very  glad  to  see  you  looking  so  remarkably  well." 

"  Have  I  so  many  &rey  locks,  to  warrant  my  pro 
motion  to  Mr.  Herriott  ?  " 

She  glanced  at  the  silky  black  head  bent  toward 
her. 


200  A   SPECKLED  BIRD 

"  Not  a  white  hair  visible.  Your  promotion  comes 
by  brevet,  in  honor  of  perfect  behavior  as  well  as  addi 
tional  years.  Of  course  you  have  seen  father  ?  " 

"  No,  I  met  only  Mrs.  Mitchell,  who  told  me  you 
had  gone  to  watch  the  sunset,  and  I  knew  this  must 
be  your  coign  of  vantage." 

"  This  is  not  your  first  visit?  " 

"  No.  The  island  attracts  me  more  than  any  other 
part  of  Italy,  and  justifies  what  has  been  said :  '  Sicily 
is  the  smile  of  God/  ' 

"  Then  surely  His  frown  must  be  ^Etna — '  the  pillar 
of  heaven,  the  nurse  of  sharp,  eternal  snows.'  A  few 
moments  ago  it  was  dazzling,  now  how  grim  and 
sombre  it  looms,  and  that  wavering  jet  of  smoke 
crawls  against  the  purple  sky  as  a  dying  candle  flame 
flickers  over  the  head  of  a  corpse.  I  sometimes  won 
der  if  God " 

She  had  lifted  the  acanthus  spray  and  touched  it 
with  her  cheek,  and  her  eyes  followed  the  ascending 
smoke  which  suddenly  glowed  from  crater  lights  be 
neath  as  sunset  splendors  faded ;  but  the  sentence  was 
not  finished,  and  her  lips  paled.  Turning  toward  her 
companion,  she  smiled. 

"  You  have  been  feeling  the  old  earth's  pulse  while 
she  was  in  an  ague?  " 

"  Yes.  On  the  surface  our  ancient  mother  appears 
so  absolutely  in  repose,  and  yet,  when  we  get  down 
nearer  her  mighty  heart,  we  find  the  earth  is  never 
still ;  it  trembles  and  thrills  ceaselessly.  This  was  my 
first  view  of  tr  e  seismic  pendulum  records,  in  a  subter 
ranean  vault  that  suggested  the  workshop  of  Hephaes 
tus." 

"  I  should  think  you  would  tire  of  wandering  about, 
and  prefer  to  go  home." 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  201 

"  If  I  had  one,  doubtless  I  should ;  but  roof,  walls, 
and  fields  and  gardens  do  not  exactly  constitute  the 
home  that  would  content  me." 

"  Mr.  Noel,  you  are  wedded  to  science,  and  nothing" 
else  will  ever  satisfy  you." 

1  Yes,  I  am  very  faithful  to  my  vast  spouse,  and  I 
find  her  loyal.  She  never  flirts,  never  is  inconsistent 
or  petulant;  when  I  work  hard  she  smiles  divinely, 
and,  like  that  other  sorceress  of  the  Nile,  '  age  cannot 
wither  her  nor  custom  stale  her  infinite  variety/ 
Domesticity  is  not  one  of  her  charms,  hence  hand 
in  hand  we  roam  the  world,  making  a  perpetual  bridal 
tour.  No  connubial  quarrels  disturb  our  sweet  re 
pose,  even  when  I  write  to  you,  her  only  rival ;  but  if 
I  grow  indolent,  or  over  wise  or  conceited,  she  simply 
lays  her  great  finger  on  her  lips  of  stone  and  turns 
her  huge  planetary  back  upon  me.  Now,  Eglah,  you 
are  due  in  the  confessional.  Why  did  you  fail  to  an 
swer  my  letter  from  Fort  Churchill,  Hudson  Bay?  " 

"  Because  it  contained  no  address,  and  to  reach 
you  seemed  as  uncertain  as  mailing  a  letter  to  that 
wild  new  comet  pious  people  are  praying  will  not 
make  a  carrom  with  earth  and  moon  and  sundry 
stars.  Have  you  heard  that  Beatrix  and  Mr.  Staple- 
ton  were  married  in  November?  " 

"  Yes,  I  received  a  long  wail  from  Aunt  Trina,  in 
which  she  came  as  near  boxing  my  ears  as  interven 
ing  distance  permitted.  Dana  and  Trix  will  be  as 
happy  as  a  pair  of  Java  finches  in  a  gilt  cage." 

"  I  imagined  that  Miss  Manning's  objection  arose 
solely  from  the  fact  that  the  cage  was  not  gilded." 

"  Wall  Street  is  a  wonderful  matchmaker,  and 
smiled  on  the  lovers.  Sometimes  Hymen  corners 
stocks,  and  Dana's  kite  was  lucky." 


202  A    SPECKLED   BIRD 

Having  learned  from  Judge  Kent  that  Mr.  Her- 
riott  had  assisted  Mr.  Stapleton  in  financial  matters, 
Eglah  smiled,  and  the  old  look  of  kindly  trust  came 
back  to  her  eyes  as  they  steadily  met  his. 

"  What  a  treat  it  would  be  to  read  Miss  Manning's 
letter!" 

"  Because  you  think  my  ears  deserve  boxing,  and 
you  enjoy  seeing  justice  meted  out?  How  unkind 
to  your  faithful  old  friend !  Nevertheless,  I  would 
lay  the  letter  before  you,  but  it  is  in  my  trunk  at 
Brindisi,  where  I  am  due  to  meet  Chalcott  for  the 
next  steamer  to  Cyprus.  Chalcott  has  questioned 
the  accuracy  of  statements  relative  to  the  recent  ex 
cavations  there,  and  wants  local  data,  and  as  he  is  also 
at  odds  with  Schliemann  over  the  Troad,  we  go  there 
to  debate  the  claim  of  Hissarlik  versus  Bunarbashi." 

"  I  did  not  know  you  were  so  deeply  interested  in 
classical  archaeology." 

"  I  am  not,  and  it  does  not  attract  me ;  but  it  is  a 
special  line  of  study  with  Chalcott,  who  wishes  me  to 
accompany  him,  not  as  co-worker,  but  merely  as  a 
friend." 

"You  prefer  Hopi  and  Haida  legends,  and  'Walam- 
Olum,'  and  '  glacial  moraines,'  and  'kettle  holes*? 
You  see,  as  an  old  friend,  I  thought  it  really  my  duty 
to  read  those  two  reports  you  sent  to  father." 

"  I  dare  say  you  found  them  very  tiresome;  but 
pre-glacial  conditions  and  anthropological  problems 
appeal  powerfully  to  me.  In  tossing  up  balloons  we 
do  not  all  select  the  same  color." 

"  After  burrowing  in  the  Troad,  where  next  ?  " 

"  Tromso,  Hammerfest  and  the  midnight  sun.  We 
shall  have  a  pleasant  party :  two  Americans,  a  German 
professor,  an  English  scientist,  and  a  Russian  astron- 


A    SPECKLED   BIRD  203 

omer.  I  must  go  on  to  Brindisi  to-morrow,  but  I 
could  not  resist  the  temptation  to  see  you  and  spend 
a  few  hours." 

"  It  will  be  a  long  time  before  you  reach  home  ?  " 

"  So  long  that  I  have  fixed  no  date  for  return." 

The  unmistakable  expression  of  relief  that  crossed 
her  face  was  not  lost  upon  him,  and  involuntarily  he 
clenched  his  right  hand  resting  on  his  knee. 

"  Eglah,  your  countenance  is  honest  as  your  heart, 
and  you  are  not  glad  to  see  your  old  friend.  May 
I  ask  why?" 

Without  hesitation  she  looked  at  him  frankly. 

"  To-day  something  annoyed  me  very  sorely,  and 
I  came  here  to  fight  it  out  alone.  I  fear  I  have  at 
times  the  temper  of  a  Tartar,  and  the  evil  one  pos 
sessed  me  at  the  very  moment  you  appeared  and 
spoke  to  me.  Just  then  nothing  would  have  given 
me  pleasure,  but  your  patient  courtesy  makes  me 
ashamed;  and  now,  Mr.  Noel,  you  must  believe  me 
when  I  assure  you  I  am  heartily  glad  to  be  with  you, 
and  hear  of  your  various  expeditions." 

Smiling  cordially,  she  held  out  her  hand,  but  he 
took  no  notice  of  it,  and  for  a  moment  his  eyes  rested 
on  the  sea,  where  a  freshening  wind  crimped  the  long 
swells  of  water  dyed  by  the  after-glow  into  the  gold 
of  a  daffodil.  Turning,  he  bent  over  her. 

"  May  I  ask  you  a  question?  " 

"  Certainly,  if  I  may  be  allowed  discretionary 
powers  as  regards  answering.  I  do  not  think  Mr. 
Noel  could  make  an  unkind  inquiry,  or  that  he  would 
distress  me  in  any  way." 

"  Am  I  responsible  for  the  annoyance  you  referred 
to?" 

Keen  as  was  his  gaze,  she  did  not  waver. 


204  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

"  Personally  it  was  impossible  that  you  could  have 
been  responsible.  When  it  occurred  you  were  in 
Catania." 

She  saw  that  he  was  not  satisfied,  and,  rising,  put 
on  her  hat. 

"  We  must  go  back ;  father  will  have  so  much  to 
talk  over  with  you.  Please  carry  my  acanthus;  I 
shall  make  a  sketch  of  this  spray,  it  is  so  laden  with 
blossoms." 

In  silence  they  walked  some  distance,  and  rather 
suddenly  she  exclaimed : 

"  I  must  have  been  rude  indeed,  when  you,  so 
generous  and  kind,  will  not  forgive  me.  Mr.  Noel, 
I  am  not  quite  my  old  self,  and  to-day  have  felt  at 
odds  with  the  world.  Father's  incomprehensible  re 
tirement  from  public  life  grieves  and  perplexes  me, 
because  his  health  is  perfect,  and  I  cannot  patiently 
accept  the  forfeiture  of  all  my  hopes  for  his  political 
future.  Without  his  knowledge,  I  wrote  early  in  the 
new  Administration  to  two  prominent  officials,  close 
personal  friends  of  the  President,  and  asked  their  in 
fluence  in  securing  a  foreign  ministerial  position  for 
my  father.  With  elaborate  circumlocution  they  ex 
pressed  regrets,  and  '  tendered  kindest  remembrance 
and  best  wishes.'  I  presume  it  is  wise  to  wage  no 
war  with  the  inevitable,  but  I  simply  cannot  recon 
cile  myself  to  the  most  bitter  disappointment  of  my 
life.  You  see,  I  trust  you  so  entirely  I  am  opening 
my  heart  to  you,  that  you  may  quite  understand  I 
did  not  intend  to  show  any  lack  of  cordiality  to  you." 

He  laughed,  and  tapped  her  shoulder  twice  with  the 
acanthus  spray. 

"  With  all  my  heart  I  absolve  you.  Rude  you 
could  not  be,  and  I  trust  the  time  will  never  come 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  205 

when  I  deserve  to  be  treated  less  cordially  than  in  the 
past.  When  do  you  go  back  to  America  ?  " 

"  In  May  or  June.  Ma-Lila  will  stay  away  no 
longer ;  she  is  so  anxious  to  look  after  her  little  fifty- 
acre  farm." 

"  In  the  South,  of  course?  " 

'*  Yes ;  it  is  a  corner  of  one  of  the  '  bend  planta 
tions/  and  with  a  new,  pretty  cottage,  well  furnished, 
grandmother  gave  it  to  her  as  a  bridal  present.  None 
of  us  can  ever  forget  that  her  father  was  killed  while 
bringing  my  dying  grandfather  off  the  battle-field." 

"  Has  Judge  Kent  decided  where  he  will  live?  " 

"  He  has  sold  the  old  homestead  in  New  England, 
and  we  expect  to  settle  down  in  the  only  remaining 
home,  Nutwood,  which,  in  accordance  with  grand 
mother's  will,  we  now  have  the  right  to  occupy. 
Until  this  year  the  trustees  controlled  and  closed  it." 

"  Do  not  forget  that  whenever  you  and  your  father 
wish  to  visit  New  York  the  house  in  Thirty-eighth 
Street  will  be  entirely  at  your  disposal — at  least  for  a 
couple  of  years.  A  telegram  to  my  old  butler  Haw 
kins  will  always  insure  a  comfortable  reception.  Here 
comes  the  Judge.  How  remarkably  well  he  looks." 

Very  late  that  night,  when  adieux  had  been  spoken 
and  only  father  and  daughter  remained  in  the  small 
salon,  Eglah  rose,  and  they  looked  steadily  at  each 
other.  In  her  dark  brown  eyes  two  defiant  stars 
glo\ved,  but  the  clear,  sweet  voice  was  low  and  tender. 

"  Father,  after  what  was  said  this  morning,  I  of 
course  can  only  wish  you  good-night.  Your  condi 
tions  make  it  impossible  for  me  to  attempt  to  kiss 
you,  and  until  you  choose  to  remove  the  embargo, 
I  certainly  shall  observe  it,  in  accordance  with  your 
orders.  Good-night,  dear  father." 


206  A   SPECKLED  BIRD 

He  bowed  as  if  to  a  duchess. 

"  Good-night,  Eglah." 

When  Mr.  Herriott  went  down  the  steps  leading 
from  the  Kent  apartments  to  the  street,  Mrs.  Mitchell 
beckoned  him  into  a  niche  between  two  stone  pillars, 
and  said,  almost  in  a  whisper : 

"  Excuse  me,  sir,  but  will  you  tell  me  what  is  be 
hind  this  trouble  between  Eglah  and  her  father?  " 

"  She  says  it  is  the  result  of  his  refusal  to  re-enter 
politics." 

"  Exactly;  but  what  is  behind  his  refusal?  She  is 
fretting  herself  ill,  because  she  cannot  find  out.  Ever 
since  our  last  day  at  Greyledge  they  have  been 
estranged.  This  morning,  when  your  letter  arrived, 
something  very  unpleasant  occurred;  and  you  see  Eg 
lah  is  not  like  herself." 

"  My  letter  was  a  most  innocent  paper  bomb — the 
mere  announcement  that  I  intended  to  stop  here  a  few 
hours  on  my  way  to  Messina.  It  contained  abso 
lutely  nothing  more,  and  you  must  have  mistaken 
the  cause  of  her  annoyance.  Perhaps  you  wish  to 
intimate  that  you  think  my  presence  enhances  the 
trouble,  whatever  it  may  be  ?  I  shall  be  glad  to  have 
you  speak  frankly." 

For  a  moment  she  was  silent,  but  she  patted  his 
coat  sleeve  approvingly. 

"  Mr.  Herriott,  she  fs  all  I  have  in  this  world,  and 
I  can't  see  the  child  breaking  her  heart  over  Judge 
Kent's  selfish  secretiveness.  There  is  something 
about  him  I  do  not  understand,  and  I  thought  you 
might  be  able  to  explain  it  to  me." 

"  As  you  have  known  him  so  much  longer  and 
more  intimately  than  I,  it  seems  probable  that  you 
can  estimate  him  accurately  without  my  assistance. 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  207 

Mrs.  Mitchell,  it  will  be  a  long  time  before  I  see  any 
of  you  again,  and  going  so  far  away,  I  shall  remem 
ber  with  great  pleasure  that  our  dear  Eglah  will  have 
you  always  at  her  side,  in  dark  and  stormy  as  well  as 
sunny  hours.  Good-bye;  my  very  best  wishes  for  you 
all."' 

He  understood  most  thoroughly.  Eglah's  strug 
gle  to  receive  cordially  an  evidently  unwelcome  visi 
tor  had  pained  him  inexpressibly,  wounding  his 
pride  even  more  than  his  heart,  and  since  his  absence 
contributed  to  her  peace,  he  resolved  that  henceforth 
she  should  know  no  disquietude.  If,  despite  his  ef 
forts  to  surrender,  he  had  cherished  a  faint,  unac- 
knowleged  hope,  he  strangled  it  effectually  now,  and 
in  after  years  he  thought  of  y£tna  only  as  a  monu 
ment  whose  shadow  lay  ever  across  the  acanthus- 
covered  grave  of  his  last  beautiful  illusion. 

Longer  than  usual  Eglah  knelt  beside  her  bed  that 
night,  and  when  she  rose,  Mrs.  Mitchell,  waiting  to 
brush  out  and  braid  her  hair,  noted  in  the  pale  young 
face  traces  of  mental  wrestling. 

"  Little  mother,  does  God  answer  your  prayers?  " 

"  Not  always  in  the  way  I  may  have  wished,  but 
when  they  are  denied  I  seem  to  receive  instead  an 
increased  assurance  that  He  knows  best ;  and  as  to  a 
child  crying  for  sharp-edged  tools,  His  refusal  springs 
from  omniscient  mercy." 

"  Do  you  think  Mr.  Noel  is  really  a  Christian? 
Father  believes  him  a  mere  rationalist." 

"  His  is  such  a  fine  character,  only  Christianity 
could  have  moulded  him." 

"  I  wish  I  knew  whether  he  prays  every  night." 

"Why?" 

"  If  he  does,  his  prayers  and  mine  must  clash  like 


208  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

crossed  swords  before  the  Lord,  and  Mr.  Noel  is 
better  than  I,  and  deserves  to  receive  that  which  he 
wants  most ;  but  he  will  not — he  shall  not !  " 

"  Eglah,  dearie !     The  Lord  alone  will  decide." 

"  No.  If  we  are  free  agents,  human  will  can  not 
be  coerced  by  Him  who  gave  it.  Even  our  great, 
dear,  good  God  cannot  give  him  what  I  pray  he  will 
be  denied.  Never — never !  " 

"  For  what  is  he  praying?  " 

"  A  razor — that  would  cut  his  fingers — so  he  must 
not  have  it.  Now,  lest  you  should  '  imagine  vain 
things/  I  wish  you  to  know  that  Mr.  Noel  has  not 
renewed  his  proposal  of  marriage,  and  I  hope  never 
will.  It  is  only  just  to  him  that  you  should  fully 
understand  he  is  now  no  suitor.  He  is  simply  my 
loyal,  noble  friend,  in  whom  I  trust  implicitly.  Good 
night,  Madrecita." 


CHAPTER    XVI 

It  had  been  a  cold,  cloudy  January  day  in  one  of 
the  great  northern  cities,  and  with  night  came  flurries 
of  snow  that  powdered  telegraph  wires  and  danced 
like  thistledown  around  the  corners.  Two  and  a 
half  years  had  elapsed  since  the  angel  of  death 
stooped  to  swing  his  sickle  in  the  daisy  meadow  on 
Long  Island,  and  in  a  low,  wide  basement  room, 
fronting  the  street,  Mrs.  Dane  sat  at  her  sewing  ma 
chine,  hemming  a  child's  check  aprons  piled  on  a 
chair.  The  apartment  was  plainly  but  comfortably 
furnished,  and  rilled  now  with  the  pungent  odor  of 
ginger,  cloves,  and  cinnamon  from  a  pan  of  small 
cakes  on  the  top  of  an  oil  stove.  The  gas  jet  above 
her  heightened  the  metallic  lustre  of  her  abundant 
hair,  and  deepened  fringy  shadows  cast  by  her  thick, 
dusky  lashes.  Upon  the  beautiful  face  time  had 
softly  pressed  its  velvet  palm,  smoothing  the  angles 
of  bitterness  and  wrath  that  had  been  intensified  by 
the  struggle  with  her  husband,  whom  she  now  be 
lieved  she  had  eluded  forever  by  removing  to  another 
city.  On  the  broad  windowsill  at  her  right  stood 
an  oval,  brass  filigree  frame  holding  a  photograph 
of  Leighton  in  his  chorister  vestments,  and  in 
front  of  the  picture  a  dozen  violets  filled  a  wine 
glass.  As  she  finished  and  folded  an  apron,  leaning 
forward  to  place  it  on  the  chair,  her  glance  fell 
on  the  photograph,  rested  there,  and  the  ocean  of 
the  past  moaned,  surged,  broke  over  her.  De- 

14 


210  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

spite  her  persistent  scoffing  moods,  she  had  found 
it  impossible  to  forget  the  few  lines  Father  Temple 
had  repeated  with  a  faltering  voice  after  the  grave 
closed  over  the  sweet  young  singer  of  St.  Hyacinth's. 
They  haunted  some  chamber  of  her  defiant  soul,  and 
when  she  gazed  at  the  holy  face  of  her  boy  they  stole 
out  and  whispered: 

"  Another  lamb,  O  Lamb  of  God,  behold 
Within  this  quiet  fold, 
Among  Thy  Father's  sheep 
I  lay  to  sleep ! 

A  heart  that  never  for  a  night  did  rest 
Beyond  its  mother's  breast. 
Lord,  keep  it  close  to  Thee, 
Lest  waking  it  should  bleat  and  pine  for  me." 

A  rap  on  her  door  recalled  her,  and  she  swept  one 
hand  across  her  misty  eyes. 

"  Come  in." 

A  man  of  middle  age,  low  in  stature,  and  muffled 
to  the  chin  in  a  handsome  overcoat,  stood,  hat  in 
hand,  at  the  door. 

"  Mr.  Coolidge,  I  am  surprised  to  see  you,  and  you 
have  made  a  mistake  in  coming  to  my  lodgings.  I 
will  not  ask  you  to  be  seated,  because  I  do  not  wish 
to  receive  you." 

"  But,  madam,  no  other  way  of  communicating 
with  you  seems  possible,  as  correspondence  has  cer 
tainly  proved  disastrous.  That  note  of  Mr.  Cath- 
cart's,  which  you  saw  fit  to  send  to  his  wife,  ploughed 
up  more  trouble  than  a  ton  of  dynamite,  and  his  few 
remaining  grey  hairs  will  disappear  before  the  end 
of  this  fracas.  Talk  about  savage  wild  beasts,  and 
claws,  and  paws,  and  fangs,  but  you  women  can 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  211 

trump  them  every  time  when  the  game  is  cruelty,  and 
you  want  to  get  even  with  some  man.  Poor  Mr. 
Cathcart !  I  don't  hold  him  a  saint,  but  I  must  say 
you  misread  his  note  and  misjudged  him." 

"  Did  you  see  the  note?  " 

"  After  his  wife  received  it  ?  No,  but  he  told  me 
exactly  what  it  contained,  and  why  he  was  obliged  to 
have  the  meeting  secret." 

"  Written  by  a  millionaire  to  his  poor  typewriter, 
it  was  an  insult,  and  as  such  you  would  have  hotly 
resented  it  if  your  sister  stood  in  my  dependent  posi 
tion." 

"  You  have  not  an  idea  what  he  wanted  to  say  to 
you  when  he  asked  you  to  return  to  the  office  after 
every  one  had  gone.  He  has  found  out  that  you 
have  great  influence  with  Max  Harlberg,  and  that 
you  belong  to  several  '  Unions/  and  he  wished  to  pay 
you  handsomely  if  you  would  persuade  Max  to  agree 
to  arbitration  and  not  call  a  strike.  Since  he  learned 
you  are  a  power  among  these  men  who  are  causing  us 
so  much  trouble,  he  is  anxious  to  conciliate  you,  and 
fears  your  resignation  will  increase  the  difficulty  of  a 
settlement." 

"  He  sent  you  here  to  offer  this  explanation?  " 

'*  Yes,  Mrs.  Dane,  and  I  can  vouch  for  its  truth." 

"  Mr.  Coolidge,  you  have  always  treated  me  with 
respect  and  courtesy,  and  I  have  no  desire  to  be  rude 
to  you,  but  I  am  sorry  you  came  to  offer  so  shameful 
a  bargain.  I  believe  in  '  unions  ' ;  they  became  nec 
essary  when  vast  consolidations  of  capital  began  to 
strangle  small  corporations,  and  laborers  learned  that 
only  by  a  united  front  could  they  expect  living  wages. 
You  magnates  of  '  trusts '  are  responsible  for 
1  unions ' ;  you  set  us  the  example :  when  capital 


212  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

bands,  labor  is  forced  to  organize  in  self-defence. 
You  of  the  caste  of  Dives  sowed  dragon's  teeth,  and 
now  the  abundance  of  your  crop  appalls  you?  We 
of  the  Lazarus  caste  see  hope  ahead ;  the  day  is  com 
ing  when  we  shall  have  an  honest  and  fair  and  per 
manent  adjustment  on  the  Karl  Marx  basis  of  '  plus 
value,'  and  then  every  mechanic  in  your  shops  will 
own  an  interest  in  the  car  he  builds  in  the  ratio  of  the 
hours  he  worked  on  it.  Heart  and  soul  I  am  with 
your  motormen  and  conductors,  your  carpenters  and 
machinists.  Their  cause  is  just,  and,  if  I  can  help 
them,  all  the  bonds  and  all  the  gold  your  company 
hoards  in  its  vaults  cannot  buy  me." 

"  At  least  you  might  persuade  Harlberg  to  consent 
to  arbitrate  the  differences.  The  men  would  have 
an  equal  chance  with  the  company." 

"  Arbitration  wolves  have  left  no  lambs  silly  enough 
to  bleat  their  grievances.  Two  years  ago  the  strike 
was  settled  on  a  basis  almost  fair  to  your  employees, 
and  in  six  months  the  provisions  were  nullified  by 
changes  made  possible  when  non-union  motormen 
were  brought  here.  Max  cut  his  eye  teeth  then,  and 
now  he  has  a  winning  hand." 

"  You  think  a  strike  inevitable?  " 

"  I  know  it,  and  rejoice  that  the  company  will  smart 
for  its  grinding,  inhuman  treatment  of  men  who  have 
endured  it  for  the  sake  of  wives  and  children  looking 
to  them  for  bread.  Because  you  and  Mr.  Cathcart 
and  Mr.  Hazleton  and  your  board  of  directors  have 
ample  fortunes,  you  see  no  enormity  in  requiring  men 
with  large  families  to  work  twelve  hours,  exposed  to 
rain,  sleet,  sun,  and  if,  overcome  with  fatigue,  they 
fail  to  awake  in  time  to  report  for  duty  at  the  exact 
minute  your  schedule  demands,  they  are  '  laid  off  for 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  213 

three  days  '  as  punishment.  No  day  of  rest  to  spend 
at  home;  nothing  to  anticipate  but  the  ceaseless  grind, 
grind — worse  than  that  of  driving  wheels  and  pistons 
in  machinery,  which  are  allowed  to  stop  and  cool  on 
Sunday." 

"  If  you  return  to  your  desk  to-morrow  Mr.  Cath- 
cart  says  he  will  double  your  salary." 

"  Tell  him  to  divide  the  extra  pay  among  the  needy 
grey-beards  limping  around  the  cars  and  shops.  I 
will  never  work  in  his  office  again." 

"  You  are  very  unwise,  Mrs.  Dane,  and  since  you 
sympathize  with  the  men,  you  ought  not  to  lose  the 
opportunity  to  prove  yourself  their  friend  at  court. 
Moreover,  in  rejecting  a  larger  salary  you  are  laying 
up  a  store  of  regrets." 

"  Make  no  mistake,  Mr.  Coolidge.  You  rich  often 
force  us  poor  to  suffer  severely,  but  we  seldom  '  re 
gret,'  because  that  implies  error  on  our  part.  We  are 
bitter  under  the  pain,  but  we  do  not  regret  the  course 
of  duty  to  ourselves  that  brought  down  the  lash." 

"  Is  it  true  that  if  the  railroad  men's  strike  is  de 
clared  the  telegraphers'  and  typewriters'  unions  will 
order  a  sympathetic  strike?  You  seem  to  have  be 
gun  in  advance." 

"  I  think  not.  Two  nights  ago,  at  our  meeting,  I 
urged  the  members  to  abandon  the  idea,  though 
Harlberg  was  present  to  insist  upon  it.  A  '  sympa 
thetic  strike  '  is  only  sentiment  running  riot,  and 
special  class  suffering  alone  justifies  revolt.  Altru 
istic  theories  of  reform  and  abstract  justice  ought  not 
to  tie  up  public  systems  and  precipitate  armed  con 
flicts.  I  have  learned  that  for  us  'strikes  '  are  fear 
ful  catastrophes — social  earthquakes  so  far-reaching 
in  consequences  that  you  opulent  dwellers  on  a 


214  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

serene  plateau,  immune  from  disaster,  can  form 
no  adequate  estimate  of  the  ghastly  wreck  wrought 
in  substrata  of  the  laboring  class.  Especially  ruin 
ous  is  the  strain  on  our  women.  The  men  are  ex 
cited,  goaded,  kept  on  the  qui  vive,  held  to  the  front 
by  magnetic  leaders — but  the  waiting  women  and 
children!  Cold,  hungry,  terrified,  huddled  in  help 
less  idleness,  expecting  any  moment  to  see  husband 
and  father  brought  in  on  a  shutter — buried  in  the 
'  potter's  field  '  if  he  dies,  sent  to  prison  as  a  l  riotous 
lawbreaker  '  if  he  lives — these  are  the  saddest  features 
of  bloody  struggles  that  the  outside  world  never  sees. 
Instead  of '  sympathetic  strikes/  far  more  useful  sym 
pathy  should  be  shown  by  other  unions  working  full 
time  steadily  and  sharing  their  wages  with  those 
fighting  for  violated  rights  against  the  encroachments 
of  combined  capital.  That  is  what  I  intend  to  do." 

"  Have  you  accepted  another  position  as  type 
writer?" 

"  Not  yet ;  but  many  ways  of  earning  my  bread  lie 
open  before  me.  I  never  resign  from  my  sewing 
machine,  and  I  learned  embroidery  at  a  convent 
where  royal  orders  have  been  filled." 

"  Making  check  aprons  will  not  pay  room  rent." 

Gathering  the  little  garments  in  her  arms,  she  rose, 
her  tall,  graceful  figure  clearly  outlined  by  her  mourn 
ing  dress,  and  her  eyes  sparkled. 

"  Do  you  remember  old  Silas  Bowen  ?  " 

"  I  do  not." 

'  Your  corporation  memories,  like  your  con 
sciences,  are  sieves.  One  day,  while  arranging  a 
trolley  wire,  a  tall  post  behind  him,  decayed  at  its  base, 
fell,  and  crippled  him.  He  lost  a  leg,  and  all  the  fin 
gers  of  one  hand.  Your  company  paid  the  surgeon's 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  215 

bill,  and  Bowen  was  sent  adrift  without  a  cent.  He 
sued  for  damages,  and  the  jury  gave  him  what  he 
asked  for.  You  appealed  the  case,  and  a  Hungarian 
pedler,  who  hated  him  vindictively,  swore  that  Bowen 
was  so  drunk  he  could  not  understand  warning  shouts 
that  the  pole  was  shaking,  and  that  he  was  falling 
when  the  post  toppled  and  struck  him.  You  won, 
and  he  lost  by  perjury.  He  is  able  to  do  little,  and 
has  nine  children.  His  wife  and  oldest  daughter 
launder  laces  and  fine  muslins,  and  these  aprons  are 
for  the  youngest — twins,  one  of  whom  has  spinal  dis 
ease  and  will  never  walk.  Mr.  Coolidge,  I  have  rather 
liked  you,  because  I  found  you  always  a  gentleman, 
but  my  patience  is  exhausted,  and,  as  I  shall  never 
work  again  for  your  company,  there  is  no  reason  why 
you  should  prolong  your  visit." 

"  Nothing  can  change  your  mind  in  our  favor?  " 

?<  Nothing." 

"  I  wish  the  whole  confounded,  sickening  business 
could  be  ended.  Of  course  the  company  will  win, 
New  men  will  be  at  the  barns  and  power-houses  early 
to-morrow,  prepared  to  run  the  cars,  and  the  court 
will  enjoin  strikers  from  active  interference.  At 
the  first  shot  the  militia  will  be  called  out  to  take 
a  hand,  and  then  the  poor  devils  running  around 
like  blind  adders  will  be  slaughtered.  You  women 
ought  to  stop  it.  Some  of  you  firebrands  will  land 
in  jail." 

"  Jail  sounds  dreadful,  but  after  all  it  is  not  so  bad; 
has  its  perquisites  that  wealth  furnishes.  I  tried  it 
once.  The  rich,  old  Jew  who  arrested  me  for  steal 
ing  a  Satsuma  vase  was  so  terrified  when  it  was 
found  where  a  negro  porter  had  pawned  it,  that  he 
sent  his  superb  carriage  and  horses  and  liveried 


216  A   SPECKLED  BIRD 

coachman  to  carry  me  from  jail  to  my  lodgings.  It 
was  my  first  and  last  ride  on  satin  cushions.  Good 
night,  Mr.  Coolidge." 

When  the  door  closed  behind  him,  she  counted  the 
spice  cakes  into  a  paper  bag,  placed  it  in  the  bundle 
of  aprons,  and  wrapped  the  whole  in  a  square  of  oil 
cloth.  Pushing  her  hair  back  from  her  brow,  she 
drew  a  black  veil  closely  around  her  face,  tied  the 
ends  under  her  chin,  and  put  on  her  long  waterproof 
cloak,  lifting  the  cape  over  her  head,  where  she  fast 
ened  it  with  a  safety  pin.  Under  the  grey  overhang 
ing  folds  of  the  cape  the  fair,  cold  face  looked  serene 
as  a  nun's.  Extinguishing  the  flame  of  the  oil  stove, 
her  eyes  rested  a  moment  on  the  picture  of  Leighton, 
then  she  lowered  the  gas  jet  at  the  machine,  picked  up 
the  bundle,  locked  the  door,  and  dropped  the  key  in 
her  pocket  as  she  went  out  to  the  street. 

The  snow  fall  was  light  and  intermittent,  but  now 
and  then  the  crystal  facets  glittered  in  the  vivid  bluish 
glare  of  quivering  electric  globes. 

Three  hours  later  Father  Temple,  passing  through 
the  city  on  his  way  south,  stood,  valise  in  hand,  on 
a  street  corner,  waiting  for  a  downtown  car,  and  fear 
ful  he  might  miss  the  train  where  his  sleeping  berth 
had  been  engaged.  No  car  came  from  any  quarter, 
and  he  walked  on,  hoping  to  be  overtaken.  Soon  a 
steady,  rapid  tread  of  many  feet  sounded  from  the 
rear,  and  a  squad  of  police  dashed  past  him. 

"What  is  the  matter  with  the  cars?"  he  shouted 
to  the  hurrying  column. 

One  man  looked  over  his  shoulder. 

"  The  strike  is  on.     Street  car  track  torn  up." 

In  a  marvellously  short  time  the  crowded  pavement 
became  a  dense  mass  of  men  and  women  struggling 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  217 

slowly  forward;  then  a  dull,  deep,  sullen  roar,  that 
shook  windows  and  doors,  rolled  up  to  the  star 
less  sky  where  snow  feathers  fluttered.  A  woman 
screamed : 

"  The  brutes  are  firing  cannon  into  the  poor  strik 
ers!" 

"  Not  much !  Some  devilish  striker  throwing  a 
bomb,"  answered  her  husband. 

Father  Temple,  finding  progress  impeded,  stepped 
down  into  the  street  and  hurried  on.  At  the  end  of 
the  next  square  the  hospital  ambulance  clattered  by  at 
emergency  speed,  and  behind  it  another  detachment 
of  police  at  double-quick  step.  The  street  was  bare 
as  mid-desert  of  vehicles,  save  those  from  hospitals, 
and  down  the  double  railway  track  flowed  a  human 
stream,  panting  to  reach  the  fray,  eager  to  witness 
the  struggle  as  old  Romans  who  fought  for  places 
under  the  velarium,  and  shrieked  "  Habet! "  Two 
officers  on  horseback  galloped  by,  and  then  came  re 
ports  of  shots,  followed  by  the  wild,  thousand- 
throated  whoop  and  hoot  of  maddened  men  drunk 
with  hate  and  fury.  At  the  intersection  of  three 
streets,  where  a  small  park  lay,  the  strikers  had 
massed  the  cars  from  every  direction,  shut  off  the 
current,  cut  the  wires,  and  taken  their  stand.  Ex 
pecting  trouble  next  day,  the  company  had  prepared 
guards  and  provided  extra  police  protection  for 
their  barns  and  power-houses,  where  a  few  non 
union  men  had  been  secured,  but  the  strikers  frus 
trated  these  plans  by  refusing  to  run  as  directed  to  the 
defended  terminus.  Where  the  line  of  clustered  cars 
ended  on  both  tracks,  iron  rails  had  been  torn  up  and 
piled  across  the  road  bed,  and  here,  in  front  and  rear, 
motormen,  conductors,  carpenters,  machinists,  and 


218  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

linemen  were  massed,  stubbornly  defying  all  attempts 
to  repair  the  tracks  or  move  the  cars. 

A  half  hour  before  Father  Temple  reached  the  out 
skirts  of  the  crowd  at  the  square,  a  woman  had  el 
bowed  her  way  to  the  front  car  and  sprung  upon  the 
platform.  Just  below  her  Max  Harlberg  was  dis 
tributing  pistols  to  a  group  of  men,  all  gesticulating 
angrily. 

Clapping  her  hands  to  arrest  attention,  Mrs.  Dane 
called : 

"  Silas  Bowen,  if  you  are  here,  answer.  Silas 
Bowen ! " 

"  Aye,  aye !  Silas  Bowen  is  here  to  hurry  up  Judg 
ment  day  for  the  hounds  that  have  dodged  it  too 
long." 

"  You  must  go  to  your  wife ;  she  needs  you.  The 
tenement  where  you  live  burned  down  to-night." 

"  Let  it  burn !  I  hope  the  old  rat  hole  isn't  in 
sured." 

"  But  your  wife  is  frantic,  and  wants  you  at  once ; 
and  one  of  your  children  is  hurt.  Silas,  do  go  to 
them,  I  beg  of  you.  I  have  the  helpless  boy  and  the 
burned  girl  at  my  room,  and  your  wife  is  there." 

"  I  have  waited  too  long  for  this  picnic  to  turn  my 
back  just  as  the  music  begins.  I  am  in  for  my  share 
of  the  fun  to-night,  and  kindling  wood  will  be  cheap 
to-morrow.  When  the  devil's  pay  day  comes  for  the 
boss,  I  mean  to  see  the  count." 

Leaning  over  the  dashboard  of  the  car,  Mrs.  Dane 
watched  for  an  opportunity,  and  snatched  from  Harl- 
berg's  hand  the  pistol  reserved  for  his  own  use. 
Holding  it  above  her  head,  she  cried : 

"  Friends,  fellow-workers,  listen  a  moment !  You 
are  striking  for  the  right  to  live  like  human  beings, 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  219 

not  beasts  of  burden;  but  be  careful,  be  sure  you  do 
not  put  yourselves  in  the  wrong  by  rash  violence.  If 
strife  comes,  let  your  oppressors  start  it.  Personal 
attack  is  not  your  privilege,  but  defence  is  your  right. 
Stand  here  quietly,  shoulder  to  shoulder,  cool,  steady, 
and  keep  non-union  traitors  at  arm's  length.  We 
who  are  working  will  see  that  the  pot  boils  for  your 
families ;  but,  men,  I  beg  of  you,  attempt  no  violence ; 
because,  if  the  first  shot  comes  from  us,  the  end  will 
be  we  shall  all  drop  from  the  frying  pan  into  the  fire. 
The  police  are  bloodhounds  wearing  the  collar  of  rich 
corporations,  and  the  courts  are  butcher  pens,  where 
'  fighting  strikers  '  are  slaughtered.  When  rifles  are 
fired  into  your  ranks  and  bayonets  thrust  into  your 
bodies,  then — only  then — must  you  remember  '  blood 
washes  blood.'  Oh,  men,  be  patient !  Max  Harl- 
berg,  don't  forget  that  you  are  responsible  for  what 
may  happen  now.  These  men  have  obeyed  you — 
have  followed  you  like  sheep  to  the  edge  of  a  preci 
pice.  Don't  drive  them  with  the  butt  of  a  pistol  to 
leap  to  ruin.  Counsel  no  bloodshed,  no  rashness,  no 
wreckage." 

A  feeble  cheer  rose,  smothered  by  a  grumbling 
growl. 

The  wind  had  blown  the  cape  back  to  her  shoulders, 
and  the  folds  of  black  veil  banding  her  head  slipped 
down,  restraining  no  longer  the  ripples  of  hair  curling 
above  her  temples.  Leaning  over  the  dashboard,  one 
hand  clutching  the  collar  of  Harlberg's  overcoat  as 
she  talked  rapidly  to  him,  she  resembled  some  gilt- 
headed  figure  carved  at  the  prow  of  a  vessel,  always 
first  to  front  tempests. 

Just  then  a  solid  column  of  policemen  charged  the 
strikers,  forcing  them  back  almost  upon  the  pile  of 


220  A  SPECKLED  BIRD 

rails  near  the  foremost  car,  and  following  the  line  of 
lifted  and  revolving  clubs,  Mr.  Cathcart  and  his  super 
intendent,  Hazleton  appeared.  Hisses,  jeers,  oaths, 
and  a  prolonged  howl  greeted  them,  amid  which  pav 
ing  stones  smote  the  heavy  clubs  that  swung  right 
and  left  like  flails,  and  Harlberg  sprang  to  the  iron 
controller,  leaped  thence  to  the  roof  of  the  car,  and 
shouted  his  orders  to  the  strikers  on  the  ground. 
Wounded,  bleeding  men  were  trampled  by  the  sway 
ing  mass  as  it  surged  forward,  staggered  back,  pant 
ing,  cursing,  hooting;  then,  in  quick  succession,  three 
shots  rang  out. 

A  moment  later  Mrs.  Dane  laid  Harlberg's  pistol 
on  top  of  the  controller  stand,  and,  as  she  stepped 
down  from  the  platform  to  make  her  way  home,  some 
thing  hurtled  through  the  air  and  struck  between  the 
spot  where  Mr.  Cathcart  stood  and  the  iron  dash 
board  of  the  car.  In  the  blinding  glare  of  the  ex 
plosion  two  strikers  and  a  policeman  were  seen  to  fall, 
and  when  the  roar  and  sharp  shivering  of  crashed 
windows  ended,  a,  sudden  hush  fell  upon  the  multi 
tude. 

Father  Temple  had  slowly  forced  his  way  along  the 
outer  edge  of  the  quivering  throng  and  reached  the 
centre  of  the  square,  where  in  summer  a  fountain 
babbled.  Some  one  behind  grasped  his  cassock. 

'*  You  are  a  priest?  For  the  love  of  God,  come  to 
a  dying  man !  Come  back." 

Death  had  sounded  a  temporary  truce,  and  for 
some  moments  only  whispers  passed  trembling  lips, 
but  the  strikers  still  guarded  the  rails.  Mr.  Cath 
cart  wiped  off  the  dust  thrown  into  his  face  by  the 
explosion,  bared  his  grey  head,  and  lifted  his  hand : 

"  Men,  don't  you  think  you  have  worked  mischief 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  221 

enough  for  one  night?  Eight  dead,  and  only  God 
knows  how  many  wounded !  That  is  an  ugly  bill  the 
law  will  surely  make  you  pay.  You  heard  those  three 
shots  fired  into  the  air?  It  was  a  signal  for  the 
armory ;  the  troops  are  now  coming.  Who  will  feed 
your  babies  when  you  are  bayonetted  ?  " 

A  mounted  policeman  spurred  his  horse  close  to 
the  president. 

"  The  soldiers  are  hurrying  down." 

The  leaders  recognized  the  futility  of  continued 
resistance,  and,  as  they  slowly  fell  back  from  the  track 
the  police  were  in  undisputed  control  of  the  cars  when 
the  hurrying  line  of  soldiers  reached  the  square. 

Father  Temple  and  his  unknown  guide  paused  be 
side  a  stretcher.  Two  men  wearing  the  Red  Cross 
badge  bent  over  it. 

"  Stand  back ;  here  is  a  priest." 

Both  rose,  and  pointed  to  the  sheet  covering  a 
motionless  figure. 

"  Too  late.     He  is  dead." 

Then  one  added,  as  he  touched  Father  Temple's 
sleeve : 

"  You  might  be  of  use  over  yonder,  where  a  woman 
is  badly  hurt.  They  are  waiting  for  an  ambulance 
to  move  her." 

When  Max  Harlberg  ordered  the  retreat  of  the 
strikers  and  jumped  from  the  roof  of  the  car  to  the 
pavement,  he  caught  sight  of  a  huddled  mass  on  the 
step  near  the  motor  controller,  and  simultaneously  he 
and  Mr.  Cathcart  approached  the  spot. 

Mrs.  Dane  had  sunk  down  in  a  sitting  posture  on 
the  step,  and  her  head  rested  against  the  shattered 
edge  of  the  dashboard,  her  face  tilted  skyward,  where 
two  stars  blinked  feebly  through  thinning  snow 


222  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

flakes.  Blood  dripped  from  the  right  shoulder,  and 
behind  one  ear  a  red  stream  dyed  her  golden  braids, 
but  the  blue  eyes  were  open,  and  her  limp  hands  lay 
in  the  crimson  pool  deepening  in  her  lap,  where  the 
waterproof  cloak  held  it. 

"  My  God,  it  is  my  typewriter !  Hazleton,  Hazle- 
ton!  Telephone  for  an  ambulance.  Hurry!  I  knew 
she  was  mixed  up  in  this  deviltry,  but  didn't  think  she 
would  actually  come  to  the  front  and  take  a  hand." 

"  She  did  not.  She  came  here  hunting  Bowen, 
whose  family  was  burned  out  to-night,  and  she  had 
taken  some  of  them  to  her  room.  His  wife  has 
spasms  when  she  is  worried,  and  was  screaming  for 
him,  so  Mrs.  Dane  was  begging  him  to  go  back  with 
her.  She  wanted  a  peaceable  strike — urged  us  not 
to  begin  any  fight — and  she  snatched  a  pistol  out  of 
my  hand.  Can't  you  speak  to  me,  Mrs.  Dane? 
Where  are  you  hurt  worst  ?  " 

Harlberg  stooped  to  lift  her,  but  Cathcart  held 
him  back. 

"  Stop !  You  must  wait  for  the  doctor.  She 
might  bleed  to  death  if  you  moved  her.  A  pretty 
night's  work  in  a  civilized  city!  Lord,  how  I  wish 
all  you  anarchists  had  one  neck !  So  Silas  Bowen 
has  paid  her  liberally  for  helping  his  family!  He 
threw  that  bomb — aimed  it  at  Hazleton  and  me,  and 
when  it  exploded  she  was  struck  by  something. 
Leather-headed,  black-hearted  scoundrel!  The  po 
lice  have  just  marched  him  off,  and  the  infernal  fool 
ought  to  be  hung  from  the  first  lamp-post." 

An  ambulance  came  up  at  a  gallop,  and  while  the 
surgeon  sprang  out  and  hurried  toward  the  group, 
Father  Temple  stepped  forward.  As  the  electric 
light  shone  full  on  the  upturned  face  and  the  wide, 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  223 

fixed  eyes,  a  cry  broke  from  the  lips  of  the  priest, 
who  tried  to  thrust  all  aside. 

"  My  Nona !     My  own  pansy  eyes !  " 

The  surgeon  pushed  him  back. 

"  I  must  have  room  to  examine  her.  Help  me  lay 
her  across  the  platform.  Here,  you!  Are  you  her 
brother?  Take  her  firmly  by  the  shoulders,  so; 
steady,  lower  her  head." 

"  She  is  my  wife." 

What  was  done,  and  exactly  why,  none  but  the 
surgeon  ever  understood ;  those  who  looked  on  knew 
only  that  jagged  cuts  were  sprayed  and  closed  and 
bandaged;  that  the  lovely  hair  was  shorn  away  from 
a  wound  at  the  back  of  the  head,  and  hypodermics 
inserted  in  the  arm. 

No  word  was  spoken  until  the  stretcher  was  or 
dered  close  to  the  car  platform,  and  the  patient  was 
lifted  tenderly  and  laid  upon  it.  Then  the  thin,  shak 
ing  hand  of  the  priest  clutched  the  doctor's  sleeve. 

"  I  have  the  right  to  know  exactly  what  you  think." 

"  Then  I  must  be  frank.  She  has  received  prob 
ably  fatal  injuries  to  spine  and  brain,  and  paralysis 
has  resulted.  Whether  the  paralysis  will  be  perma 
nent  I  cannot  say  now,  because  the  extent  of  the 
shock  has  yet  to  be  determined." 

"  She  is  not  entirely  unconscious." 

"  I  am  sure  she  is.  On  what  do  you  base  your 
opinion?  " 

"  I  know  too  well  the  expression  of  her  eyes,  and 
it  changed  when  I  spoke  to  her." 

"  Her  tongue  is  certainly  paralyzed,  and  she  can 
move  neither  hand  nor  foot." 

"  I  do  not  wish  her  carried  to  the  charity  hospital, 
though  doubtless  the  treatment  is  the  same.  Please 


224  A    SPECKLED   BIRD 

take  her  to  the  Mercy  Infirmary,  and  will  you  be 
so  kind  as  to  let  me  sit  close  to  her  in  the  ambu 
lance?" 

Keenly  the  doctor  scanned  the  convulsed  face, 
where  overmastering  emotion  defied  control. 

"  Your  wife,  you  said  ?  My  friend,  don't  you  think 
it  time  you  laid  aside  your  disguise  ?  Priests  are  not 
— in  this  country — given  to  acknowledging  their 
wives  so  publicly.  It  may  be  all  right,  but  your 
marital  claims  and  your  clothes  don't  seem  to  fit." 

"  I  am  not  a  Romanist.  I  belong  to  an  Episcopal 
celibate  Order,  and  my  superior  understands  and  di 
rects  my  movements.  If  you  knew  everything  you 
would  pity  me " 

The  surgeon  took  off  his  hat,  bowed,  and  waved 
him  to  a  seat  in  the  ambulance. 

In  after  years,  when  Father  Temple's  dark  hair  had 
whitened,  and  vital  fires  were  burning  low,  to  the 
verge  of  ashes,  he  looked  back  always  with  supreme 
tenderness  and  immeasurable  joy  to  the  days  that 
followed  the  strike,  as  after  some  tempest  lulls  one 
watches  the  unexpected  lustre  of  an  afterglow  where 
it  glints  over  the  wreckage  wrought,  and  waves  its 
banners  of  gilded  rose  between  vanishing  storm 
clouds  and  oncoming  night. 

In  that  small  room  at  the  Infirmary  reigned 
profound  quiet,  broken  only  by  the  low  voices  of  two 
wise-eyed,  tender-handed,  know-all,  tell-nothing 
nurses,  whose  ideals  of  absolute  obedience  to  staff 
orders  were  as  starched  as  their  caps  and  collars. 
They  shared  the  doctor's  opinion  that  the  patient  was 
conscious  of  nothing,  because  she  neither  flinched  nor 
moaned  when  her  wounds  were  dressed,  but  the 
watcher  who  spent  part  of  each  morning  beside  the 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  225 

bed  knew  better.  Waiting  one  day  until  the  nurses 
left  the  room,  he  drew  from  his  pocket  a  photograph 
of  Leighton,  leaned  down,  and  held  it  close  to  her. 
The  half-closed  eyes  widened,  brightened,  and,  after 
a  moment,  tears  gathered. 

He  laid  the  picture  against  her  lips  and  left  it  on 
her  breast. 

With  that  fine  instinct  which  inheres  only  in  su 
premely  unselfish  love,  he  fought  down  the  long 
ing  to  fondle  her,  allowed  himself  no  approach  to  a 
caress,  remembering  that  his  touch  was  loathsome  to 
her,  and  in  her  present  helplessness  would  prove  a 
cruel  insult.  He  accepted  as  part  of  his  punishment 
the  fierce  trial  of  bending  so  close  to  the  precious  face 
her  hatred  denied  him ;  and  only  once,  when  the  nurse 
laid  the  patient's  hand  in  his,  while  she  tightened  a 
bandage  and  gave  a  hypodermic,  he  bowed  his  face 
upon  it  and  kissed  the  palm. 

Sometimes  for  hours  she  kept  her  eyes  shut ;  again, 
for  as  long  a  period,  she  would  not  close  them,  and 
though  her  gaze,  never  vacant,  wandered  from  face 
to  face,  it  held  no  inquiry,  no  sadness,  no  meaning 
save  of  profound  introspection,  of  some  subtle  mental 
readjustment ;  but  only  a  deep,  slowly  drawn  sigh  of 
utter  weariness  ever  crossed  her  pale  lips,  from  which 
the  blood  had  been  drained.  Father  Temple  felt  as 
sured  that  as  she  lay  motionless,  fronting  eternity, 
her  self-communion  was  profound  ^nd  calmly  search 
ing;  and  ceaselessly  he  prayed  that  God's  mercy 
might  comfort  the  brave,  lonely,  helpless  soul. 

One  morning  the  nurse  reported  that  during  the 

night  Mrs.  Dane  had  moved  her  right  hand  and  arm, 

but  the  improvement  did  not  continue,  and  while  at 

times  fully  conscious,  her  vitality  was  evidently  ebb- 

15 


226  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

ing,  and  the  pulse  began  to  fail.  She  had  never 
spoken,  and  the  doctor  said  she  never  would.  Stand 
ing  outside  the  door,  Father  Temple  waited  one  noon 
to  hear  the  physician's  report.  As  he  came  out  he 
put  his  hand  on  the  priest's  shoulder,  and  answered 
the  mute  appeal  in  eyes  that  were  wells  of  hopeless 
grief. 

"  Don't  leave  her.  I  have  asked  the  matron  to  let 
you  stay  now.  We  have  done  all  we  could,  and  she 
does  not  suffer.  She  may  slip  away  at  any  moment. " 

The  room  was  very  still,  and  sweet  with  violets 
which  Father  Temple  brought  daily.  The  muslin 
curtain  had  been  looped  back  to  admit  light  that  fell 
full  on  the  pillow  where  lay  the  beautiful  head,  shorn 
of  a  portion  of  its  golden  crown.  Her  features  were 
sharpened,  and  the  eyes  seemed  preternaturally  large 
above  dark,  deep  shadows  worn  by  suffering. 

The  compassionate  nurse  withdrew,  closing  the 
door  noiselessly.  With  locked  hands  the  priest  stood, 
looking  down  into  the  whitening  face  which  the  fine 
chisel  of  pain  had  reduced  to  a  marvel  of  delicate  per 
fection,  and  when  her  long,  brown  lashes  slowly 
drooped,  he  fell  upon  his  knees  and  prayed,  his  head 
bowed  on  the  bed  close  to  her  pillow.  In  the  agony 
of  his  petition  one  passionate,  broken  cry  rolled 
through  the  solemn  silence. 

"  Lord,  visit  upon  me  the  punishment  of  her  un 
belief!  Let  me  suffer  all — everything — because 
through  me  she  lost  her  faith.  Spare  her  pure,  pre 
cious  soul  and  save  her !  Oh,  God,  mercifully  receive 
and  comfort  her  dear  soul,  for  Christ's  sake !  " 

Some  moments  passed,  and  while  he  knelt,  his 
crucifix  pressed  against  his  breast,  he  felt  a  cold  hand 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  227 

laid  on  his  bowed  head  and  a  faint  effort  to  pat  it. 
In  the  wonderful  blue  eyes  a  new  light  had  dawned. 

"  My  darling  Nona,  will  you  forgive  me  ?  You 
cannot  speak,  but,  oh,  try — try  to  press  my  hand! 
Have  pity  on  me !  " 

He  had  risen,  and  her  hand  was  clasped  in  his,  as 
he  stooped  over  her.  Feebly  the  icy  fingers  con 
tracted  in  his  palm. 

"  Vernon,  I  have  forgiven  everything.  I  could 
have  spoken  after  the  second  day,  but  I  was  not 
ready.  I  wanted  to  be  sure  this  was  the  end.  So 
much  to  count  over.  Vernon,  I  was  too — too — hard 
— on  you — but " 

Breath  failed  her,  and  she  gasped  painfully. 

"  My  wife,  my  darling  wife !  Tell  me  you  are  not 
afraid  now." 

She  looked  steadily  into  his  eyes,  and  after  a  little 
while  there  came,  brokenly,  an  echo  as  of  a  voice 
drifting  away  into  immeasurable  wastes. 

"  I  go  to  my  long  sleep — no  bad  dreams.  Too 
tired — to  be  afraid " 

A  moment  passed,  while  she  struggled  for  breath, 
and  over  her  face  stole  a  smile. 

"  If  it — is — something — else — better,  my  baby  will 
be — there — my — baby " 

He  felt  a  tremor  in  her  ringers,  as  with  a  long,  low 
sigh  the  frozen  lips  closed,  but  the  calm,  brave  gaze 
did  not  waver. 

At  last,  after  long  years,  it  was  his  privilege  to  hold 
her  to  his  heart  and  kiss  down  the  stiffening  lids  that 
•yeiled  forever  the  smiling  pansy  eyes. 


CHAPTER    XVII 

For  political  rancor  time  is  not  an  emollient  pana 
cea.  Sectional  hatred  bites  hard  on  memory,  as  acid 
into  copper,  and  the  perspective  of  years  of  absence 
failed  to  alter  in  any  degree  the  rough  angles,  ugly 
scars,  and  deep  shadows  that  characterized  the  peo 
ple's  portrait  of  Judge  Kent.  Impotence  to  correct 
intensifies  public  sense  of  wrong,  and  compulsory 
submission  to  injury  borne  silently  garners  bitterness 
which  in  actual  strife  would  effervesce.  Only  those 
who  lived  in  the  Southern  seaboard  and  Gulf  States 
during  the  long,  stinging  years  that  followed  the  sur 
render  at  Appomattox  can  understand  why  the  names 
of  Grant  and  Sherman  stirred  little  enmity,  when 
compared  with  the  unfathomable  execration  and  con 
tempt  aroused  by  the  civil  Federal  vultures  that  set 
tled  like  a  cloud  over  State,  county,  and  municipal 
treasuries.  The  battening  of  this  horde  soon  reduced 
Southern  finances  and  credit  to  a  grewsome  skeleton. 
In  that  stifling  Ragnarok,  family  estates  feudal  in  ex 
tent  were  seized  as  "  abandoned  lands  "  and  par 
celled  out  to  freedman,  who  had  been  enticed  to 
abandon  them  in  order  to  succeed  their  masters  in 
ownership.  "  Patriots  are  paupers  now,"  was  the 
grim  proverb  current  among  Confederates,  and  the 
very  few  who  showed  conditions  bordering  on  com 
fort  were,  in  public  estimation,  required  to  "  stand 
and  deliver  "  an  explanation  of  the  fortuitous  circum 
stances  that  saved  them  from  the  general  ruin. 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  229 

Judge  Kent's  judicial  career  had  been  disastrous 
to  the  interests  of  many  throughout  the  State,  and 
among  the  legions  who  improved  their  fortunes  by 
coming  south  to  "  reconstruct  and  to  dispense  jus 
tice."  he  was  especially  detested  by  the  citizens  of 

Y .  To  Eglah,  his  insistence  upon  returning  to 

Nutwood  was  explicable  solely  on  the  hypothesis 
that  speculative  reverses  had  demanded  the  sale  of 
his  own  property  and  swallowed  the  result ;  hence  his 
resources  were  exhausted. 

Recollection  of  slights,  insinuations,  invectives,  and 
jeers  that  had  imbittered  her  childhood  did  not  lend 
beckoning  glamour  to  the  home-coming;  and  with 
out  the  powerful  protection  of  Mrs.  Maurice's  pres 
ence  she  suspected  she  was  making  a  social  plunge 
with  no  net  spread  to  succor.  Deliberately  and  sys 
tematically  she  planned  the  gradual  renovation  and, 
to  a  limited  degree,  the  refurnishing  of  the  beautiful 
old  house  wrhere  it  now  seemed  her  future  must  be 
spent.  A  new  close  carnage  and  stylish  trap  were 
shipped  in  advance,  and  Mrs.  Mitchell  went  down  to 
superintend  preparations  for  occupancy  of  Nutwood, 
leaving  Judge  Kent  and  his  daughter  to  follow  a 
week  later. 

Old  Aaron  was  stooping  badly  and  stiff  with  rheu 
matism,  but  refused  to  relax  his  grasp  on  the  butler's 
reins;  Celie  maintained  her  iron  sway  in  the  kitchen; 
her  two  daughters  were  eager  to  discharge  the  duties 
of  housemaids,  and  Oliver,  hopelessly  bed-ridden, 
claimed  that  his  son  had  the  best  right  to  succeed 
him  as  coachman. 

When,  on  the  morning  after  her  arrival,  Eglah  en 
tered  the  cedar-panelled  dining-room,  and  seated  her 
self  at  the  head  of  the  table,  where  glittered  the  tall, 


230  A    SPECKLED   BIRD 

silver  coffee  urn  with  Dirce  and  her  beast  in  bold 
relief,  she  almost  expected  to  see  her  grandmother's 
face  reflected  there  as  in  days  gone  by,  and  involun 
tarily  looked  over  her  shoulder  with  a  telepathic  im 
pression  that  behind  her  chair  stood  the  stately,  old, 
crepe-coifed  dame  disputing  usurpation.  Judge  Kent 
drained  his  second  cup  of  creamless  tea,  held  up  the 
thin,  fluted  china  to  examine  the  twisted  signature  of 
the  manufacturer,  listened  to  its  protest  as  he  care 
fully  thumped  it,  and  pushed  it  aside. 

"  Eglah,  I  do  not  like  the  room  where  I  slept  last 
night,  and  I  wish  a  change  made  to-day." 

"  Why,  father?  I  selected  the  handsomest  room 
in  the  house  for  you.  That  has  always  been  con 
sidered  the  best — set  apart  as  the  guest-chamber." 

"  Well,  as  I  am  not  a  guest,  I  have  no  desire  to 
appropriate  the  perquisites.  I  prefer  the  room  open 
ing  into  the  library." 

"  Not  my  grandfather's  room — not  where  grand 
mother  hoarded  sacred — "  She  paused,  and  the  sil 
ver  fruit  knife,  with  which  she  peeled  a  peach,  clanged 
sharply  as  it  fell. 

"  Exactly.  I  mean  the  museum  of  rebel  relics.  I 
wish  them  removed  at  once,  and  my  own  things  un 
packed  and  arranged  there." 

"  Father,  it  was  grandmother's  expressed  wish  to 
keep  that " 

"  It  is  rather  late  to  evoke  sentiment  in  her  behalf. 
She  left  nothing  undone  to  hamper,  annoy,  and  in 
convenience  us,  and " 

"  Father !  De  mortuis — /  Although  I  am  her  grand 
child  under  protest  on  her  part,  she  gave  me  her  es 
tate,  and  the  one  room  she  loved  ought  to  be  reserved 
just  as  she  wished." 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  231 

As  she  leaned  to  the  right  of  the  urn,  to  look 
squarely  at  her  father,  her  face  was  close  to  Mrs. 
Mitchell,  who  noted  its  pallor  and  an  ominous  curve 
in  the  thin  lips.  Judge  Kent  beat  a  muffled  tattoo 
with  the  prongs  of  his  fork  on  the  handle  of  a  spoon 
lying  near.  He  smiled,  eyed  her  fixedly,  and  inclined 
his  head  in  dismissal. 

"  It  is  not  a  question  for  discussion,  but  a  simply 
imperative  matter  of  obedience  to  instructions.  I 
must  have  the  change  made  at  once,  and  if  extra  help 
is  needed  Aaron  will  see  immediately  that  it  is  se 
cured." 

From  the  bowl  of  flowers  in  the  middle  of  the 
table  he  selected  a  sprig  of  ruby  stock-gilly,  inhaled 
its  fragrance,  fastened  it  in  his  coat,  and  strolled  out 
on  the  front  colonnade. 

Over  the  girl's  white  face  flowed  a  deep,  dull  red, 
and  for  a  moment  her  slender  hands  covered  it.  Then 
she  touched  the  bell  at  her  left,  and  smiled  bravely  at 
the  butler  who  answered  it. 

"  Uncle  Aaron,  put  a  pitcher  of  tea  on  the  ice,  so 
that  whenever  father  needs  it  I  can  have  it  cold.  Tell 
Ma'm  Celie  I  have  not  had  such  a  good  breakfast 
since  I  wore  short  skirts  and  my  hair  down  my  back. 
Her  coffee  was  perfect,  the  waffles  and  beaten  biscuit 
the  very  best  I  ever  tasted,  and  the  brain  croquettes 
could  not  be  improved." 

"  Yes,  Missie,  she  thought  she  would  please  you. 
She  don't  forget  how  you  loved  waffles  and  honey 
when  you  used  to  wear  bibs  and  set  in  your  high 
chair." 

Having  invested  all  in  a  teraph  of  fine  gold,  its 
votary  sees  \vith  vague  uneasiness  a  gradual  dimness 
blur  the  sheen,  and  when,  under  friction,  the  gilt  sur- 


232  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

face  melts  away  and  only  corroding  brass  remains, 
the  shock  is  severe.  However  slow  the  transforma 
tion,  the  final  disillusion  is  not  softened. 

Standing  in  the  memorial  room,  with  her  arms 
resting  on  the  mantel  shelf,  Eglah  looked  up  at 
the  frank,  noble  patrician  face  of  General  Maurice, 
until  an  unsuspected  undercurrent  of  pride  and 
tenderness  suddenly  surged  at  the  thought  that 
his  blood  ran  in  her  veins.  Whatever  ills  might 
overtake  her,  no  bar  sinister  could  ever  mar,  no 
breath  of  blame  could  cloud  the  lustre  of  this  side 
of  her  family  shield.  Studying  the  portrait  above 
her,  and  that  of  her  lovely  young  mother  on  the  oppo 
site  wall,  she  began  for  the  first  time  to  take  posses 
sion  of  her  Maurice  birthright,  conscious  that  here 
her  pride  could  never  drag  anchor.  The  room  that 
from  her  nursery  days  had  always  been  Marcia's  re 
mained  unoccupied  after  her  death,  and  to  this  apart 
ment  Eglah  and  Eliza  removed  every  cherished  ob 
ject  Mrs.  Maurice  had  stored  in  her  husband's  old 
study,  arranging  pictures,  books,  furniture  as  she  had 
left  them.  No  word  of  comment  passed  the  locked 
lips  of  either  woman,  but,  when  all  had  been  adjusted, 
Eglah  fastened  the  door  and  handed  the  key  to  Mrs- 
Mitchell. 

"  You  know  she  preferred  'Grand  Dukes'  and  Cape 
jasmines,  so  we  will  keep  some  in  front  of  the  portrait, 
and  once  a  week  we  must  see  that  no  dust  collects 
here." 

In  the  future,  stretching  before  the  young  mistress 
of  Nutwood  gleamed  two  goals — friendly,  social 
recognition  of  her  father,  and  the  compilation  and 
publication  of  a  volume  containing  a  sketch  of  his 
career,  written  by  herself,  selected  speeches  delivered 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  233 

in  Congress,  and  certain  judicial  decisions  relative  to 
Confederate  property,  individual  and  corporation, 
which  had  tarred  him  heavily  throughout  the  State, 
where  they  were  promulgated.  To  the  attainment  of 
these  aims  she  purposed  to  devote  her  energies,  be 
lieving  that  the  accomplishment  of  the  biographical 
scheme  would  inevitably  remove  the  barrier  of  es 
trangement  that  had  shut  her  from  her  father's  con 
fidence. 

After  a  week  spent  in  looking  over  Nutwood, 
visiting  Mrs.  Mitchell's  home  and  inspecting  the  con 
dition  of  gin  houses,  mills,  fences,  and  cabins  on  the 
plantations,  the  appointed  day  arrived  when  Mr. 
Whitfield  came  with  books  and  a  large  tin  box  to  give 
a  detailed  account  of  his  stewardship. 

Eglah  noticed  that  while  he  held  and  pressed  her 
fingers  cordially,  he  merely  bowed,  and  seemed  not  to 
see  Judge  Kent's  proffered  hand.  After  the  inter 
view  she  understood,  when  Eliza  told  her  that  during 
the  period  habeas  corpus  was  suspended  by  Federal 
authority  the  husband  of  Mr.  Whitfield's  only  sister 
had  been  imprisoned  for  "  treasonable  language  "  by 
the  desire  and  co-operation  of  Judge  Kent,  and  that 
distress  of  mind  and  anxiety  on  her  husband's  ac 
count  had  precipitated  the  death  of  the  wife  before 
his  release  from  jail. 

Thin,  wiry,  grizzled,  keenly  alert,  the  lawyer's 
light-blue  eyes  dwelt  chiefly  on  the  girl's  face,  save 
when  her  father  asked  a  question  or  a  fuller  ex 
planation  of  some  statement.  Now  and  then  Judge 
Kent,  watchful  but  studiedly  debonair  and  suave, 
glanced  over  a  paper,  and  once  he  challenged  the  ac 
curacy  of  a  computation  of  interest,  which  on  revi 
sion  proved  correct.  They  were  grouped  around  an 


234  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

oval  table  in  the  library,  an  open  tin  box  in  the  centre, 
flanked  by  two  ledgers  and  piles  of  papers,  and  Eglah 
sat  close  to  Mr.  Whitfield's  right,  while  her  father 
took  his  place  immediately  opposite  her. 

She  leaned  a  little  forward,  her  arms  crossed  on  the 
mahogany,  and  looked  up  steadily  at  the  lawyer,  but 
when  he  offered  a  paper  for  examination  she  smiled 
and  shook  her  head. 

"  You  must  perceive  the  farcical  futility  of  talking 
business  to  such  an  inexperienced  girl,"  said  Judge 
Kent,  stretching  out  his  hand  to  take  a  bundle  of 
stock  certificates  his  daughter  had  motioned  away. 

"  Really  you  surprise  me,  because,  from  all  we  have 
heard  of  her  college  training,  I  was  prepared  to  find 
Marcia's  child  an  expert." 

"  Father  knows  I  can  calculate  interest,  and  that 
I  understand  bookkeeping,  but  he  would  be  ashamed 
of  me  if  I  suspected  or  hunted  for  errors  in  the  ac 
counts  of  a  friend  who  for  so  many  years  has  kindly 
guarded  my  financial  interests." 

The  lawyer  patted  her  hand  and  smiled. 

"  That  sounds  like  your  dear  mother,  and  I  am 
glad  you  have  her  low,  clear  voice,  like  the  melody  of 
a  silver  harp  string;  but  your  father  is  quite  right  in 
urging  careful  inspection  of  matters  that  have  been 
so  long  intrusted  solely  to  me.  Now,  I  believe  we 
have  gone  over  the  important  points,  except  that  rail 
road  muddle,  which  is  still  undecided.  I  brought 
suit  over  a  year  ago,  and  as  the  new  branch  and  spurs 
run  through  the  middle  of  one  of  your  best  cotton 
fields  on  Willow  Creek  plantation,  I  hope  the  next 
term  of  court  will  give  us  a  satisfactory  settlement. 
Boynton  is  a  good  overseer — not  a  graduate  of  a 
college  of  technology  nor  an  agricultural  chem- 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  235 

1st,  who  knows  from  looking  at  the  soil  the  exact 
day  when  the  Noachian  flood  left  your  lands  dry,  nor 
is  he  a  new-fangled  '  manager/  but  he  is  just  an 
overseer  of  auld  lang  syne;  a  trifle  lax,  but  our  old- 
fashioned  plantation  rules  are  dead  as  Pharaoh,  and 
he  winks  at  lapses  he  cannot  prevent.  However,  he 
keeps  the  repair  machinery  busy  on  fences  and 
stables,  the  negroes  like  him,  and  you  will  find  your 
leases  and  contracts  all  signed  properly.  Of  course 
you  are  aware  your  grandmother  left  instructions  that 
when  you  married,  or  as  soon  as  you  were  twenty- 
one,  $5,000  should  be  paid  to  Mrs.  Mitchell.  I  con 
sulted  the  bishop,  and  we  thought  it  best  to  defer  this 
matter  until  her  return  to  America,  but  it  should  not 
be  delayed  longer,  and  here  is  the  check,  which  you 
can  hand  to  her.  With  the  payment  of  this  legacy 
her  annual  allowance  ends." 

Eglah  opened  the  table  drawer,  drew  out  an  envel 
ope,  and  laid  it  before  him. 

"  Enclose,  address,  and  seal  it.  Before  you  leave 
the  house,  please  deliver  it  to  her." 

"Have  you  any  questions  to  ask?  Do  not  hesi 
tate,  if  there  is  anything  else  you  do  not  understand, 
anything  you  wish  to  know." 

"  Absolutely  nothing,  except  an  adequate  way  of 
thanking  you  for  all  your  patient  goodness.  If  you 
can  explain  how  I  shall  accomplish  this,  you  will  in 
crease  my  huge  debt." 

Judge  Kent  rose  and  smiled  benignly. 

"  Eglah,  I  wonder  it  has  not  occurred  to  you  that 
a  proper  recognition  of  the  value  of  Mr.  Whitfield's 
services  ought  to  involve  a  willingness  and  effort  on 
your  part  to  relieve  him  entirely  of  the  burden  of  re 
sponsibility  he  has  borne  so  long,  and  which,  under 


236  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

my  guidance,  you  are  quite  capable  of  assuming. 
You  are  of  age,  and  the  trusteeship  should  end  at 
once." 

For  fully  a  moment  she  pondered  the  suggestion, 
then  laid  her  hand  on  the  lawyer's  arm. 

"  Tell  me  frankly  whether  you  prefer  to  surrender 
the  management  of  our  business  affairs?  Irrespective 
of  my  individual  feeling,  your  wishes  alone  must  de 
cide  the  matter,  and  you  can  best  determine  if  the  tax 
upon  your  time  is  too  onerous." 

Mr.  Whitfield  drew  the  tin  box  before  her,  and 
pointed  to  a  large  envelope  marked  "  Last  Will  and 
Testament  of  Patricia  Maurice." 

"  I  imagine  you  scarcely  comprehend  some  of  the 
conditions  that  place  me  in  a  peculiarly  embarrassing 
position.  Here  is  the  will  of  your  grandmother;  I 
preserved  for  you  the  original  draft  in  her  handwrit 
ing.  The  last  page  bears  upon  the  question  under 
discussion.  Read  it  now,  and  then,  whatever  your 
wishes,  I  individually  shall  obey  them." 

Judge  Kent  seated  himself,  lifted  the  decanter  in 
front  of  him,  and  filled  a  glass. 

"  Meantime,  will  you  join  me  in  a  glass  of  sherry?  " 

"  No,  thank  you ;  my  doctor  restricts  me  to  claret." 

Very  slowly  Eglah  read  the  broad  sheet,  and  her 
countenance  changed,  clouded,  as  she  betrayed  her 
annoyance  by  taking  her  under  lip  between  her  teeth. 

"  We  beg  your  pardon,  Mr.  Whitfield ;  we  had  en 
tirely  forgotten  that  clause.  Unless  I  marry,  your 
trusteeship  continues  until  I  am  thirty  years  old, 
should  I  live  so  long." 

"  Not  necessarily  mine.  I  can  resign,  or  death  may 
release  me,  but  some  other  person  would  be  re 
quired." 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  237 

"  A  most  unjust  and  absurd  provision,"  said  the 
judge,  draining  his  second  glass,  and  striving  to  con 
ceal  his  remembrance  of  the  fact  that  Mrs.  Maurice 
had  expressly  forbidden  his  connection  with  the  trus 
teeship. 

Mr.  Whitfield  smiled. 

"  We  lawyers  all  know  testators  use  only  their  in 
dividual  standards  of  justice,  wisdom,  and  fitness." 

Eglah  had  folded  the  paper,  replaced  it  in  the 
envelope,  and  turned  to  the  lawyer. 

"  It  appears  that  if  for  any  reason  you  should  re 
linquish  this  responsibility,  your  successor  is  already 
appointed,  and  in  that  event  I  should  become  practi 
cally  the  ward  of  the  Chancery  Court,  which  never 
resigns,  never  dies." 

She  looked  straight  into  her  father's  watching  eyes, 
and  continued  slowly,  distinctly : 

"  I  shall  not  marry.  Your  stewardship,  dear  Mr. 
Whitfield,  involves  some  additional  years  of  trouble 
for  you,  but  I  am  so  deeply  grateful  to  you,  I  shall 
certainly  try  to  cause  as  little  annoyance  as  possible." 

A  shutter  swung  open,  the  sun  flashed  in,  and  she 
crossed  the  room  to  exclude  the  glare. 

Returning,  she  paused  behind  her  father's  chair, 
put  her  arms  around  his  neck,  and  interlaced  her  fin 
gers.  Without  an  instant's  hesitation  he  elevated 
and  shook  his  shoulders  so  decidedly  her  hands  fell 
to  her  side. 

"  Sit  down,  my  dear." 

He  built  a  pyramid  with  his  plump,  white,  carefully 
manicured  fingers,  and  the  brilliant  eyes  he  fixed  on 
the  man  beside  him  held  a  challenge. 

"  If  the  sanctity  of  wills  were  not  debatable,  our 
profession  would  be  barred  from  browsing  in  rich 


238  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

pastures  of  litigation;  and  'undue  influence/  foster 
ing  injustice,  has  bred  strife  since  its  innings  as  far 
back  as  the  wrongs  of  Esau.  As  sole  heir  to  the 
Maurice  fortune,  my  daughter  can  follow  her  indi 
vidual  wishes  and  judgment  concerning  the  manage 
ment  of  what  is  indisputably  her  own,  since  there 
could  be  no  family  contestants." 

He  bowed  to  Mr.  Whitfield. 

"  Judge  Kent,  if  Eglah  so  decided,  there  would  be, 
on  my  part,  no  contest." 

•  "  You  are  both  mistaken.  There  would  inevitably 
result  a  destroying  contest,  with  my  conscience  and 
my  self-respect." 

Mr.  Whitfield  caught  his  breath  as  he  noted  the 
transformation  of  the  girl's  face  into  a  blanched, 
stony  mask.  Carefully  replacing  every  package  of 
papers  in  the  box,  she  looked  under  the  table  to  be 
sure  none  had  fluttered  to  the  floor,  turned  the  key  in 
the  brass  padlock,  and  pushed  the  box  toward  the 
lawyer. 

"  Mr.  Whitfield,  I  have  several  times  regretted  that 
this  inheritance  was  left  to  me;  to-day  I  deplore  it. 
While  I  gratefully  appreciate  your  wise  and  faithful 
guardianship,  I  confess  I  very  naturally  feel  sorry  my 
own  dear  father  cannot  manage  my  affairs;  but  I 
believe  that  all  wills  of  sane  persons  should  be  held 
sacred — absolutely  inviolable.  If  the  Maurice  estate 
is  mine,  it  is  on  specified  conditions  that  I  would  no 
more  break  than  the  ten  commandments.  I  shall  not 
marry ;  therefore  the  trusteeship  must  continue  until 
I  am  thirty,  and  of  all  men  in  the  world,  except 
my  father,  I  certainly  prefer  you  should  retain  it. 
Only  in  strict  conformity  to  the  provisions  by  which 
I  inherit  will  I  remain  at  Nutwrood  or  spend  its  in- 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  239 

come;  but  my  father's  opinions  and  wishes  are  very 
dear  to  me,  and  since  he  objects  strenuously  to  some 
of  the  conditions  which  naturally  wound  him,  I  intend 
to  leave  to  him  the  decision  of  the  rejection  or  accept 
ance  of  the  inheritance.  Grandmother  declared  that 
if  the  terms  of  trusteeship  were  violated,  it  was  her 
wish  that  I  should  receive  merely  the  annuity  allowed 
me  since  her  death,  and  that  her  entire  estate — includ 
ing  Nutwood  and  the  plantations — should  be  given  in 
perpetuity  to  childless  widows  of  Confederate  sol 
diers  in  this  State;  women  whose  husbands  and  sons 
had  been  lost  in  defence  of  the  South.  That  you  as 
trustee  might  not  contest  a  flagrant  violation  of  the 
will  is  merely  an  expression  of  your  personal  reluct 
ance  to  chide  me  publicly;  but  it  is  a  dubious  compli 
ment  to  any  sense  of  right  and  justice.  Now,  father, 
shall  we  relinquish  the  estate  to  the  widows  and  find 
a  home  elsewhere?  Sometimes  I  think  it  would  be 
best  for  us  in  many  ways,  but  you  shall  decide.  Shall 
we  go  or  stay  ?  " 

Steadily  she  faced  him,  cool  and  firm  as  a  granite 
gargoyle,  but  his  nostrils  flared,  his  teeth  gleamed 
under  his  grey  mustache,  and,  tilting  back  his  chair, 
he  laughed  unpleasantly. 

"  My  dear,  histrionism  is  not  becoming  to  you — 
especially  without  chiton,  diploidion,  and  fillets. 
Either  your  Alma  Mater  is  weak  along  lines  of  elo 
cutionary  training  or  you  do  it  so  little  credit  you 
never  earned  your  diploma.  Your  pretty  little  pro 
logue  is  as  preposterous  as  the  senseless  limitations 
you  are  embracing  so  dramatically ;  but  you  are  now 
fully  of  age — except  in  Mrs.  Maurice's  opinion — and 
since  the  inheritance  is  yours,  not  mine,  you  must 
accept  the  consequences  of  your  own  tragic  avowal 


240  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

and  tie  up  your  hands  for  some  years  to  come.  At 
least  I  can  congratulate  you  that  all  responsibility 
devolves  upon  so  astute  and  experienced  a  trustee 
as  Mr.  Whitfield,  who  will  watch  over  your  inter 
ests  till  silver  threads  adorn  your  locks  and  you 
wear  spectacles.  Since  this  matter  is  settled,  be  so 
good  as  to  spare  me  any —  Come  in,  Aaron.  What 
is  it?" 

The  butler  had  knocked  twice,  and  now  beckoned 
to  some  one  behind  him. 

"  A  boy  with  a  despatch." 

The  messenger  held  up  the  yellow  telegram. 

"  Senator  Allison  Kent." 

Very  deliberately  he  wrote  his  name  in  the  receipt 
book,  pausing  to  trim  the  pencil  tied  to  it;  then,  bow 
ing  to  Mr.  Whitfield,  "  With  your  permission,"  he 
opened  the  envelope.  Eglah  saw  his  face  flush,  and 
he  coughed  twice  in  a  peculiar  way  she  knew  indi 
cated  deep  annoyance. 

"  Any  answer,  sir?  "  asked  the  boy. 

"  Yes,  but  you  must  wait  for  it." 

He  took  up  a  pen,  drummed  with  fingers  of  his 
left  hand  on  the  table,  and  rose. 

"  As  I  find  it  necessary  to  consult  a  record  before 
replying  to  this  telegram,  I  must  beg  you,  sir,  to  ex 
cuse  me.  I  hope  you  will  have  time  to  enjoy  some 
of  our  fine  fruit  to-day." 

At  the  door  he  called  to  the  butler,  standing  in  a 
side  hall. 

"  Aaron,  order  dinner  at  three  o'clock,  and  the  trap 
at  four.  I  must  take  the  '  cannon-ball  train.' ' 

He  and  the  messenger  disappeared,  and  after  a 
moment  Eglah  withdrew  her  eyes  from  the  vacant 
chair  opposite,  and  turned  to  her  guest. 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  241 

"  I  think  you  brought  some  papers  you  wish  me 
to  sign.  May  I  do  so  now?  " 

"  When  you  have  examined  them,  they  must  be 
signed  in  the  presence  of  a  notary  public,  whom  you 
can  find  at  my  office,  or,  if  you  prefer,  he  shall  come 
here." 

He  laid  a  roll  of  type-written  documents  on  the 
table  and  rose. 

"  Shall  I  leave  the  box  with  you  for  to-day?  " 

Impatiently  she  pushed  it  aside. 

"  Take  it  away — keep  it.  I  hope  I  may  never  set 
my  eyes  on  it  again." 

The  brooding  shadow  on  her  pale,  rigid  face  made 
the  lawyer's  blue  eyes  cloudy. 

"  Dear  child,  I  have  always  been  the  intimate  friend 
of  the  Maurice  family.  I  loved  your-  sweet,  young 
mother,  and  I  hope  you  know  I  am  willing  to  help 
you  in  every  way  possible,  and  that  you  will  not  hesi 
tate  to  call  upon  me." 

"  Thank  you.  I  am  so  sure  of  your  sincerity,  I 
shall  begin  at  once  to  ask  your  counsel.  There  are 
social  complications  that  make  a  pleasant  residence 
here  problematical,  and  consideration  of  the  course 
most  expedient  for  me  to  pursue  leaves  me  in  doubt 
and  perplexity.  I  have  thought  of  opening  the  house 
and  grounds  two  weeks  hence,  in  order  to  celebrate 
my  father's  birthday  by  a  fete  champetre,  to  which 
every  family  inscribed  on  grandmother's  visiting  list 
should  be  invited.  I  prefer  to  throw  rather  than  pick 
up  the  gauntlet.  You  thoroughly  comprehend  the 
situation,  and  I  should  like  your  advice." 

"  Wait  a  while.  Go  slowly ;  social  wounds  do  not 
heal  by  first  intention.  Be  chary  of  invitations,  and 
do  not  hunt  for  challenges.  Hold  your  own  firmly, 
16 


242  A.   SPECKLED   BIRD 

but  courteously,  and  in  time  I  think  you  will  win. 
For  your  father's  sake,  try  to  conciliate  the  members 
of  his  church;  they  are  an  influential  social  factor 
here.  Mrs.  Maurice's  old  friends  will  rally  around 
'  Marcia's  baby/  and  you  must  be  patient.  Later, 
when  sure  of  your  ground,  you  can  give  all  the  fes 
tivals  you  like  without  receiving  an  avalanche  of  '  re 
grets  '  that  would  easily  paper  your  hall.  My  wife 
and  the  girls  will  call  at  once,  and  I  hope  you  will 
come  to  us  just  as  often  as  possible;  but  whenever 
you  wish  to  see  me,  drive  down  to  the  office,  or  write 
me,  as,  for  some  reasons,  it  is  advisable  I  should  be 
here  very  rarely.  Dear  child,  while  your  features  are 
like  your  handsome  father's,  you  resemble  your 
mother  in  many  ways,  and  I  am  glad  to  find  you 
have  the  crystal  conscience  and  flawless  instinct  of 
honor  that  all  men  reverenced  in  General  Maurice. 
Good-bye.  I  have  overstayed  my  time.  Tell  Boyn- 
ton  to  bring  up  the  two  horses  I  had  broken  and 
trained  for  your  saddle.  One  of  them,  the  bay,  took 
blue  ribbon  at  the  State  fair  last  fall,  and  there  is  no 
better  stock  south  of  Kentucky." 

She  walked  with  him  half  way  down  the  hall,  and 
they  shook  hands. 

"  Good-bye,  Mr.  Whitfield;  thank  you  for  many 
things.  You  will  find  Ma-Lila  in  the  dining-room, 
and  whatever  you  think  she  ought  to  know  of  to-day's 
interview,  I  prefer  you  should  tell  her.  She  is  indeed 
my  second  mother." 

After  a  while  she  went  slowly  to  her  father's  room. 
The  door  was  half  open,  but  she  paused  and  knocked. 

He  stood  looking  over  an  old  account  book,  and, 
without  glancing  up,  said  fretfully: 

"Well,  what  is  it?" 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  243 

"  Father,  I  came  to  pack  your  valise." 

"  It  is  already  packed." 

"  May  I  come  in?     I  want  to  tell  you " 

"  No.  You  will  say  nothing  that  I  should  wish  to 
hear." 

"  Will  you  allow  me  to  see  the  telegram  which  I 
fear  annoys  you  ?  " 

"  The  ashes  only  are  at  your  service — all  that  re 
mains  of  it." 

"  Tell  me,  at  least,  why  you  are  going,  and  where?" 

"  First  to  Washington.  Elsewhere  as  circum 
stances  may  direct." 

"  Please  let  me  go  with  you " 

"  Most  certainly  you  stay  where  you  are." 

"  Father — my  father !  "  She  advanced  toward  him, 
but  recalling  the  shudder  with  which  he  had  shaken 
her  arms  from  his  shoulders,  she  stepped  back  to  the 
threshold. 

"  Oh,  father,  you  are  cruel !  You  know  you  are 
breaking  my  heart !  " 

The  sob,  the  passion  of  pain  in  her  voice,  smote 
and  hurt  him  sorely,  but  he  did  not  falter  an  instant. 

"  In  breaking  your  will,  your  heart  may  be  healed." 

He  had  not  looked  at  her,  and  all  the  while  the 
index  finger  of  his  right  hand  moved  up  and  down 
columns  of  figures,  searching  for  some  item,  which 
was  finally  found  and  marked.  Leaning  against  the 
door,  she  watched  him  until  Aaron  rang  the  dinner 
bell. 

"  Father,  may  I  drive  you  to  the  station?  " 

"  No." 

"  Then  I  prefer  to  say  good-bye  here,  as  I  am  going 
to  my  own  room." 

"  As  you  please.    Good-bye,  Eglah." 


244  A   SPECKLED  BIRD 

"  I  wish  I  could  share  this  trouble,  whatever  it  may 
be  that  calls  you  away;  but  since  you  elect  to  con 
demn  me  to  the  torture  of  suspense,  I  have  no  alter 
native  but  to  endure  it  as  best  I  can.  Good-bye,  my 
dear  father." 

She  held  out  both  hands,  but,  instead  of  approach 
ing  her,  he  opened  a  glass  door  leading  to  the  colon 
nade  and  disappeared. 

The  velvet,  paternal  touch  caressing  her  tenderly 
from  the  days  of  her  babyhood  had,  during  the  last 
two  years,  stiffened,  hardened  into  a  steel  gauntlet, 
strangling  her. 

The  betrayal  of  his  selfish  and  unscrupulous  desire 
to  violate  the  provisions  of  the  will  had  painfully 
startled  and  keenly  mortified  her;  but  the  barb  that 
sank  deepest  in  her  sore,  aching  heart  was  the  realiza 
tion  of  her  father's  deliberate  plan  to  humiliate  and 
punish  her.  Was  his  persistent  effort  to  force  a  mar 
riage  with  Mr.  Herriott  based  on  the  determination 
to  hasten  her  unlimited  control  of  her  grandmother's 
estate?  Until  now,  this  explanation  had  not  oc 
curred  to  her,  because  the  clause  binding  her  to  the 
trusteeship — which  rankled  ceaselessly  in  his  mind — 
had  made  no  impression  on  her  memory.  Maturely 
she  deliberated,  weighing  the  past  in  the  light  of  the 
new  supposition,  but  this  solution  was  rejected  as  in 
adequate.  In  view  of  Mr.  Herriott's  indefinite  ab 
sence  and  studied  silence,  her  father's  obstinate 
adherence  to  his  matrimonial  ultimatum  remained 
inexplicable.  That  day  ended  her  overtures  for  rec 
onciliation;  and  she  laid  the  ax  to  the  root  of  her 
olive  tree. 

The  next  morning  was  Sunday — the  first  after  their 
return — and  she  ordered  the  carnage. 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  245 

"  Little  mother,  I  am  going  with  you  to  eleven 
o'clock  service,  and  I  am  sure  you  understand  it  is  a 
tribute  of  respect  to  grandmother,  that  after  many 
years  of  absence  I  attend  first  the  church  she  helped 
to  build." 

Curious  eyes  watched  for  Miss  Kent  in  another 
church,  where  her  father  had  worshipped,  and  carried 
her  mother,  and  when,  daintily  robed  in  white, 
Eglah  walked  with  the  overseer's  wife  along  the 
Methodist  aisle  and  sat  down  in  the  Maurice  pew,  a 
sudden  mist  blurred  the  vision  of  many  in  the  con 
gregation,  and  old  Dr.  Eggleston  wiped  his  spectacles 
and  whispered  to  his  wife : 

"  Poor  Marcia's  baby !  I  can  never  forget  her 
pitiful  little  wail  for  an  hour  after  she  was  born. 
Ah,  her  face  is  like  a  lily  just  lifted,  hunting  for  its 
God." 

Henceforth  social  lines  were  indicated  by  an  ap 
parently  trivial  distinction;  the  small  circle  that  in 
former  years  received  Judge  Kent,  and  the  strangers 

and  new  residents  of  Y spoke  of  the  mistress  of 

Nutwood  as  Miss  Kent;  but  to  the  mass  of  old 
families  she  was  always  "  Marcia's  child,"  or  "  Mrs. 
Maurice's  granddaughter." 

Very  few  typical  Southern  homes,  representing 
wealth,  liberal  education,  and  cultured  artistic  taste 
when  1 86 1  dawned,  have  survived  the  jagged  wounds 
of  war,  the  still  more  destructive  bayonet-loaded  har 
row  of  "  reconstruction,"  and  the  merciless  mildew  of 
poverty  that  tarnished  ante-bellum  splendor. 

Nutwood  escaped  comparatively  intact,  because, 
while  the  owner  lived,  her  revenue — drawn  in  part 
from  European  investments  made  early  in  the  war 
by  friends  in  London — enabled  her  to  maintain  and 


246  A  SPECKLED  BIRD 

repair  the  property  until  her  plantations  could  be  re 
adjusted  under  the  new  regime ;  and,  after  her  death, 
the  managers  of  the  estate  had  jealously  guarded  it 
from  the  inroads  of  decay. 

Outside  conditions,  social  and  domestic,  had 
changed  utterly ;  new  canons  prevailed,  new  manners 
of  strange  laxity  rolled  over  former  dikes  of  purity, 
refinement,  and  decorum;  but  the  turbid  tide  of  up- 
to-date  flippancy  broke  and  ebbed  from  the  tall  iron 
gates  of  the  old  house  on  the  hill.  Here  decadence 
was  excluded,  and  one  coming  into  the  long-closed 
mansion  inhaled  a  vague  haunting  aroma,  as  if  old 
furniture,  glass,  china,  books,  paintings,  and  silver 
had  been  sprinkled  with  powdered  sandalwood,  lav 
ender,  and  rose  leaves  that  blended  with  the  subtle 
pervading  atmosphere  of  hereditary  racial  pride. 

It  resembled  other  homes  in  Y as  little  as  some 

gallery  of  brilliant,  glaring  impressionist  pictures  sug 
gests  a  cabinet  of  exquisite  miniatures,  rich  mosaics, 
and  carved  ivory,  where  the  witching  glamour  of 
mellowing  centuries  hovers. 

Eglah  found  only  two  scars  of  time.  The  con 
servatory  was  empty  and  closed,  and  in  the  rear  of 
the  house  several  rows  of  low  brick  walls  showed 
where  formerly  stood  what  Mrs.  Maurice  called  her 
"  grapery,"  a  sunny  spot  enclosed  with  glass,  alluring 
to  her  grandchild,  who  had  climbed  a  step-ladder  to 
reach  shouldered  clusters,  as  large  as  her  head,  of 
translucent,  golden  Chasselas. 

No  strange  new  element  invaded  dwelling  or 
grounds ;  the  same  brown  hand  that  gave  her  "  hot- 
water  tea "  when  she  sat  in  her  high  chair  now 
placed  her  chocolate  before  her,  and  she  missed  only 
old  Hector,  who  had  followed  his  master  to  happier 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  247 

hunting  grounds,  and  King  Herod,  gone,  doubt 
less,  to  share  the  punishment  of  his  namesake.  The 
thoroughbred  horses  and  silver-grey  Jerseys  were 
fine  as  she  remembered  them,  and  though  they  now 
seemed  smaller,  the  white  game  fowls  were  as  beauti 
ful  as  of  yore,  when  she  toddled  after  her  grand 
mother  to  feed  them  in  the  enclosure  to  which  they 
were  restricted. 

Years  had  made  no  alteration,  save  that  a  fond, 
trusting  child  came  back  a  sadly  anxious  woman, 
fronting  the  world  with  calm  defiance,  but  shivering 
silently  under  a  numbing  shadow  of  brooding  dread 
that  time  might  deepen,  but  could  not  dispel. 


CHAPTER    XVIII 

After  prolonged  residence  in  the  cosmopolitan  at 
mosphere  of  Washington,  New  York,  and  continental 
Europe,  it  was  inevitable  that  returning  absentees 

should   find   the   restricted    environment   of   Y 

stiflingly  provincial ;  and,  despite  the  rapid  growth  of 
the  town,  consequent  upon  construction  of  new  rail 
ways  and  erection  of  furnaces  and  cotton  mills,  its 
limitations  were  apparent.  There  was  no  lack  of 
individual  brains  or  culture,  but  Eglah  missed 
keenly  the  effectively  massed  mental  activity  that 
shrewdly  focussed  all  lights  on  national  questions, 
political  policies,  and  diplomatic  legerdemain  in 
Washington;  and  especially  the  stimulating  intel 
lectual  ozone,  the  sharpening  fricticn  of  perpetual 
debate  in  congressional  circles.  An  exalted  official 
career  at  the  Capitol  lured  her  like  a  baleful  witch, 
and  transition  from  brilliant  public  life  to  compara 
tively  secluded  domesticity  in  a  Southern  country 
home  strained  her  patience. 
Gentlemen  who  composed  the  most  fashionable  club 

in  Y gave  an  elaborate  german  to  welcome  the 

chatelaine  of  Nutwood.  The  small  Kent  coterie  in 
vited  the  judge  and  his  daughter  to  several  dinners, 
that  were  promptly  repaid,  while,  now  and  then,  Eg 
lah  was  requested  to  appear  at  ladies'  luncheons,  and 
to  assist  at  five  o'clock  teas;  but  more  and  more  she 
realized  and  resented  keenly  that  among  the  proud 
old  families  she  was  tolerated  simply  because  of  the 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  249 

powerful  hereditary  Maurice  prestige.  Noting  the 
social  discrimination  against  her  father,  and  in  some 
quarters  the  far  from  fervent,  though  courteous  ac 
ceptance  of  herself,  her  few  invitations  to  Nut 
wood  dinners  were  confined  to  those  who  had  wel 
comed  him  to  their  board  and  fireside.  By  degrees 
an  element  of  haughtiness,  at  variance  with  her 
youthful  grace  and  beauty,  invaded  her  manner,  and 
her  frigid  politeness  hastened  the  diminution  of  the 
circle  revolving  about  her,  and  reduced  social  hos 
pitalities  to  merely  formal  visiting.  Complete  aban 
donment  of  the  contemplated  fete  champetre  resulted 
from  the  arrival  of  the  mail  one  morning,  three 
weeks'  after  Judge  Kent's  return  from  Washington — 
a  journey  to  which  no  one  ever  alluded. 

Leaning  back  in  her  low  wicker  rocking-chair,  in 
a  shaded  angle  of  the  colonnade,  Eglah  listlessly 
watched  Eliza's  white  Angora  cat,  stretched  on  the 
floor  and  following  with  avid  green  eyes  the  coquet 
tish  manoeuvres  of  two  brilliant  red  birds  that  flashed 
from  a  tangle  of  Belgian  honeysuckle  vines — bro 
caded  with  pale-pink  satin  clusters — to  the  quivering 
covert  ot  a  neighboring  acacia,  swinging  its  long, 
flowery  fringes  of  vivid  yellow. 

Of  the  town,  nearly  two  miles  distant,  church  spires 
and  factory  chimneys  were  visible;  but  beyond  the 
roaring  river  and  far  away,  rose  against  blue  sky  a 
battlement  of  hills,  tapestried  with  that  tender,  purple 
mist  woven  only  in  the  loom  of  distance.  With  less 
than  usual  interest,  Eglah  began  to  examine  the 
papers  and  letters  lying  in  her  lap.  One  heavy  en 
velope  contained  samples  of  sprigged  muslin  for  cur 
tains;  in  another,  that  was  so  light  it  seemed  empty, 


250  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

she  found  a  newspaper  clipping  carefully  folded  in  a 
blank  sheet  of  thin  notepaper. 

"  Special  Correspondence.  Washington : 

"  From  a  source  always  well  informed  and  usually 
accurate,  it  has  been  whispered  that  the  sudden 
change  of  policy  in  a  certain  senator — whose  resigna 
tion  surprised  his  congressional  colleagues — finds  ex 
planation  in  the  menaced  divulgement  of  some  dam 
aging  facts  connecting  the  ex-senator's  votes  with 
crooked  syndicate  dealings  in  the  West.  How  this 
record  was  unearthed  is  not  yet  known,  but  it  is  ru 
mored  a  blondined  Circe  of  the  lobby  ^Esea  used  her 
knowledge  of  it  quite  successfully  in  furtherance  of 
the  Bison  Head  bill  that  hung  so  long  in  committee 
room,  and  also  to  secure  the  senator's  resignation  in 
favor  of  a  rival  candidate  for  whom  she  shows  deep 
sympathy.  Her  threat  to  place  her  information  at 
the  service  of  the  approaching  Legislature  of  the  in 
cumbent's  native  State  hastened  his  resignation  some 
months  prior  to  the  expiration  of  his  term,  and  he 
promptly  '  left  his  country  for  his  country's  good,' 
to  recuperate  in  foreign  lands.  Truly,  '  God's  fruit 
of  justice  ripens  slow,' — but  fate  takes  care  to  shake 
the  tree.  Now  and  then  we  have  proof  in  public  life 
that  'Dieu  paie,  mais  il  nepaie  pas  tous  les  SamedisJ  ' 

The  name  of  the  paper  did  not  appear  in  the 
clipping  and  date  and  signature  had  been  erased.  The 
envelope  bore  postmark  of  a  Colorado  town,  and 
the  address  was  typewritten.  It  was  not  from  the 
State  represented  in  the  Senate  by  the  Hon.  Rufus 
Higginbottom,  but  Eglah's  intuitions  assured  her 
the  extract  had  been  sent  by  the  hand  of  Miss 
Ethelberta.  Doubtless  it  had  appeared  while  they 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  251 

were  in  Europe,  but  whether  the  press  circulated  it 
freely  she  was  now  barred  from  investigating. 

A  moan  she  could  not  repress  escaped  her  usually 
well  guarded  lips,  and  she  shivered  as  if  a  freezing 
wind  swung  her  to  and  fro. 

A  stealthy  hand  creeping  around  the  dial  had 
reached  that  predestined  hour  she  so  vaguely 
dreaded,  and  its  strokes  sounded  the  knell  of  her  life's 
dearest  hope. 

Was  it  merely  a  party  libel — one  of  the  scandalous 
personalities  used  in  retaliation  for  some  stinging 
blow  her  father  had  dealt  Democracy — a  foul  parti 
san  aspersion  such  as  political  opponents  hurl  with 
shameful  recklessness? 

Two  years  ago  she  would  have  hurried  to  her 
father  for  denial,  and  published  proofs  that  his  hands 
were  clean ;  but  to-day,  for  some  moments  after  the 
shock,  doubt  seemed  the  only  land  of  promise  where 
she  could  dwell  with  any  semblance  of  peace.  Look 
ing  back  over  all  that  made  their  last  two  months  in 
Washington  so  painful  to  her,  recalling  the  inex 
plicable  nervousness  that  was  invariably  exhibited 
when  American  letters  and  papers  reached  them 
at  Aix  les  Bains,  she  connected  incidents  that  for 
merly  had  no  visible  relation,  and  filial  faith  began  to 
rock  and  drift  from  its  lifelong  moorings.  Yet  with 
obstinate  tenacity  she  swung  back  to  the  only  com 
forting  supposition — that  political  hatred  and  the  un 
scrupulous  ambition  of  a  rival  candidate  had  com 
bined  to  fabricate  this  atrocious  calumny.  Were  it 
possible  for  Judge  Kent  to  vindicate  himself,  why  had 
he  failed  to  do  so  promptly  in  print?  Again  and 
again  she  read  the  clipping,  carefully  committing  to 
memory  the  entire  article,  and  when  quite  sure  it  was 


252  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

literally  indelible,  she  tore  the  paper  into  innumera 
ble  fragments  and  tossed  them  to  the  wind  singing 
through  the  venerable  tree  tops. 

A  different  nature  might,  perhaps,  have  utilized  the 
printed  statement  as  a  bridge  over  the  chasm  gaping 
between  her  father  and  herself,  but  intense  pride  and 
yearning  love  prompted  her  to  shield  him  from  the  great 
shame  of  knowing  she  had  read  the  blistering  libel. 
That  the  burned  telegram  related  to  this  publication, 
was  an  explanation  of  his  reluctance  to  acquaint  her 
with  the  contents,  that  appealed  now  to  her  tender 
ness,  and  her  eyes  softened  in  a  passionate  longing  to 
throw  herself  into  his  arms,  as  in  happier  days. 

Doubtless  the  press  in  Y —  had  copied  this  assault 
upon  his  political  integrity,  his  many  enemies  were 
gloating  over  it,  and  henceforth  she  would  make  no 
attempt  to  level  the  bristling  hedge  of  social  distrust. 
As  one  who  snatches  from  the  grave  some  beloved 
dead,  and  battles  in  frantic  hope  of  resuscitation,  she 
grappled  closer,  to  warm  at  her  heart  the  wan,  fading 
remains  of  loyal  filial  confidence.  It  was  an  hour  of 
exceeding  bitterness,  of  intolerable  humiliation,  but 
undaunted  by  the  severity  of  a  blow  smiting  her 
where  most  vulnerable,  she  girded  herself  to  struggle 
in  defence,  faintly  cheered  by  a  vague  yet  obstinate 
hope  that  in  coming  years  her  Biography  might 
avail  to  rehabilitate  the  character  so  unjustly  as 
sailed. 

Before  her  lay  isolation,  hidden  heart-ache,  the 
silent  surrender  of  her  clearest  ambition,  and  the  ac 
ceptance  of  life  robbed  of  all  rosy  plans. 

Remembering  how  firmly  Mrs.  Maurice's  slim 
hands  had  held  the  reins  of  government,  Eglah  fol 
lowed  precedent  in  all  details  of  domestic  manage- 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  253 

ment  that  did  not  conflict  with  her  father's  wishes. 
While  he  had  amused  himself  with  viticulture  and 
the  erection  of  new  glass  houses,  she  was  interested 
in  extending  and  refitting  the  conservatory,  but  Mrs. 
Mitchell's  frequent  and  increasing  sojourns  at  her 
small  farm,  many  miles  distant,  disquieted  her  foster- 
child,  who  finally  rebelled. 

"  No,  Ma-Lila,  it  is  out  of  the  question.  I 
can  not  let  you  go  and  spend  a  week.  What 
do  you  suppose  would  become  of  me?  You  may  as 
well  stop  packing  your  trunk." 

"O,  dearie,  you  are  perfectly  well,  and  your  father 
is  always  here.  It  is  March  and  I  must  go." 

"Yes,  I  am  fortunate  in  having  father,  but  I  want 
to  keep  you  where  I  can  touch  you  whenever  I  wish. 
Ever  since  I  could  crawl  you  have  slain  my  buga 
boos,  and  as  I  have  not  outgrown  the  cowardice  of 
covering  my  face  with  the  sheet,  I  find  the  sight 
of  that  prim  black  head  of  yours  is  necessary  to  my 
peace  of  mind.  I  am  jealous  of  that  little  den  down 
by  the  old  mill,  and  if  you  will  sell  out  and  give  it  up 
I  should  be  glad  to  pay  double  its  value.  Then  you 
could  buy  bonds  and  cut  your  coupons,  and  keep 
your  hands  white  and  soft  as  they  ought  to  be,  instead 
of  delving  with  butter,  eggs,  honey,  and  pickles." 

"  Sell  Dairy-Dingle  !  I  would  almost  as  soon 
sell  my  husband's  grave.  Dairy-Dingle,  where  I 
had  my  two  years  of  heaven  on  earth?  When  I  go 
there  I  want  to  kiss  the  doorstep  where  my  Robert  and 
I  used  to  sit  when  his  day's  work  was  ended,  and  in 
the  starlight  we  listened  to  the  mocking-bird  singing 
in  the  locust  thicket  all  overrun  with  red  and  yellow 
woodbine.  Just  now  I  am  obliged  to  be  there  to  see 


254:  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

about  the  lambs,  and  to  be  sure  of  the  settings  of 
eggs  for  the  Plymouth  Rocks,  and  Black  Spanish." 

"  How  did  the  lambs  contrive  to  live  all  those  years 
when  you  were  away,  keeping  me  in  order?" 

"Poorly  enough,  I  have  not  a  doubt,  judging  from 
the  looks  of  the  flock.  Ever  since  I  received  that 
letter  from  Robert's  youngest  sister,  Judith,  asking 
me  to  help  her  educate  as  a  civil  engineer  the  boy 
she  named  for  her  brother,  I  have  felt  the  necessity 
of  increasing  the  income  from  my  place  in  order  to 
furnish  the  required  funds.  My  Robert's  namesake 
shall  have  the  college  training  he  wants.  Drought 
cut  off  my  corn  last  year,  and  later  rain  floods  stained 
my  cotton." 

'*  Then  let  Mr.  Boynton  manage  your  place,  as  he 
does  ours,  and  you  stay  here,  while  I  hand  you  a  check 
for  what  the  boy  Robert  le  Diable  may  need." 

"  Thank  you,  precious  baby,  but  that  would  be 
outside  charity,  and  he  and  Judith  are  proud.  Be 
sides,  in  working  and  denying  myself  there  is  such  a 
sweetness,  such  a  comfort  in  helping,  as  if  it  were 
serving  my  dear  dead  to  aid  those  he  loved.  Mere 
money  is  not  worth  half  as  much  as  the  affection  that 
goes  with  it,  and  the  labor  that  earned  it;  but,  my 
darling,  you  can't  quite  feel  as  I  do." 

"  No,  I  do  not  understand.  Sometimes  I  wonder 
if  I  am  not  like  a  doll  stinted  in  her  quota  of  saw 
dust  ;  and  I  am  sure  my  heart  is  too  small,  or 
too  cold,  or  too  wicked,  to  hold  more  than  two  per 
sons.  I  love  only  father  and  you,  and  where  you  are 
concerned  I  shall  never  be  of  age.  Women  who  out 
grow  the  need  of  their  mothers  repel  me,  like  mu 
seum  '  freaks.'  You  must  not  go  away  so  often,  be 
cause  I  miss  you,  and  this  is  an  opportune  time  to 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  255 

tell  you  that  at  the  back  of  my  head  lurks  an  ugly 
mental  scare-crow  that  if  at  some  crisis  of  my  life  you 
happened  to  be  absent,  I  might  go  daft  and  scuttle 
the  ship.  Remember,  you  promised  grandmother 
you  would  not  leave  me." 

Prescient  shadows  darkened  her  appealing  eyes,  as 
she  bent  to  press  her  cool  cheek  against  the  rosy  one 
of  her  companion,  and  drew  her  out  upon  the  wide, 
latticed  piazza,  at  the  rear  of  the  house. 

"  She  asked  that  I  should  stay  with  you  until  you 
married,  or  were  twenty-one  years  old  ;  but,  my 
baby,  I  need  you  far  more  than  you  need  me.  You 
are  my  heart,  and  you  know  it;  and  I  shall  be  away 
from  you  as  little  as  possible;  nevertheless  I  must 
not  neglect  my  own  patches  and  pastures.  By  the  by, 
that  Jersey  heifer  you  gave  me  ought  to  be  registered. 
What  would  be  a  pretty  name,  easy  to  call?  One 
that  matches  her  in  beauty  will  be  hard  to  find." 

"  Her  profile  entitles  her  to  a  classical  name,  but 
the  appropriateness  of  its  significance  must  be  ob 
served.  As  '  Hecuba '  she  would  feel  in  duty  bound 
to  add  nineteen  to  your  herd." 

"  No,  indeed.  That  is  a  mouthful  of  stuttering 
ugliness." 

"  'Persephone'  rolls  softly,  like  the  long  swell  of  a 
foamless  wave  settling  to  rest — but  then  you  could 
expect  no  pearly  horned  progeny,  and  she  might 
spend  her  days  lowing  for  her  mother.  The  prettiest 
short  names  are  already  in  the  herd  books.  '  An- 
tiope?  '  She  would  not  take  good  care  of  her  calves. 
You  don't  like  mythology  because  it  is  pagan,  and 
when  I  pleaded  with  you  that  your  cat  should  be 
'Hebe'  you  turned  up  your  little  nose  and  labelled  her 
1  '  Delilah.'  Such  a  consistent  saint !  You  prefer  Old 


256  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

Testament  wickedness  to  heathen  purity.  Suppose 
you  compromise  on  '  Doucette/  and  then  you  can 
feel  sure  she  will  neither  kick  nor  gore." 

"  If  that  is  the  best  you  can  suggest,  I  shall  just 
suit  myself  and  call  her  Patricia  of  Nutwood." 

"Madrecifa,  you  can  not.  It  is  pre-empted.  The 
mother  of  our  herd  was  imported  from  St.  Helier 
by  my  grandfather,  when  she  was  only  eight  months 
old,  and  he  registered  her  in  his  own  herd  book, 
(  Patricia  of  Nutwood.'  Mr.  Boynton  showed  me  an 
old  leather-bound  copy  last  winter,  when  I  signed 
several  transfers." 

"  Then  the  next  best  for  my  brown  satin  beauty 
is  '  Noela,'  in  honor  of  Mr.  Herriott." 

"  I  am  racked  by  jealousy  that  you  should  overlook 
the  liquid  brevity  of  'Eglahtina '  or  'Eglahkentana/ 
Let  us  sit  here  on  the  steps,  where  we  can  enjoy  our 
leafy  canopy.  Could  anything  be  more  beautiful?" 

She  threw  back  her  head  and  looked  up.  In  front 
of  the  steps  two  lines  of  very  old  elm  trees  marked 
the  limits  of  a  walk  leading  through  the  "  back  yard  " 
to  the  vegetable  garden.  On  each  row,  planted  op 
posite,  white  wistaria  had  been  trained  so  carefully 
that  as  the  lower  lateral  elm  branches  were  cut  away 
to  keep  the  arch  intact,  the  vines  climbed  higher  until 
now,  the  top  boughs  of  the  trees  having  met,  all  along 
the  walls  and  across  the  pale-green  dome  of  elm 
leaves  swung  long,  drooping  spikes  of  snowy  bloom, 
amid  the  olive-tinted  wistaria  foliage. 

"  I  never  saw  anything  so  lovely  in  Italy,"  said 
Eliza,  stroking  Delilah,  and  straightening  the  blue 
bow  on  the  cat's  neck. 

"  We  came  too  late  last  spring  for  the  bloom, 
and  we  have  not  seen  this  living  ceiling  for  so  many 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  257 

years.  When  I  was  at  college  I  used  to  shut  my  eyes 
and  recall  it  just  as  we  left  it.  My  little  '  sundown 
supper  '  table  on  the  square  of  matting  yonder,  you 
sitting  on  the  bottom  step  crocheting  mats,  grand 
mother,  so  tall  and  thin,  walking  up  and  down  the 
side  flower  garden  over  there,  gathering  rose  leaves 
for  the  big  blue  china  rose  jar  in  the  drawing-room, 
old  Hector  following  her  like  a  lean  shadow,  and 
King  Herod  spreading  his  tail  till  I  threw  him  bread 
crumbs.  How  often  I  longed  for  one  of  my  '  sun 
down  '  suppers — my  bowl  of  hominy  and  cream,  my 
cup  of  milk,  the  tea  cakes  and  ginger  pone,  and  black 
berry  jam.  The  smell  of  cloves  and  cinnamon,  and 
the  taste  thereof !  " 

Watching  her  face,  relaxed  in  dreamy  retrospec 
tion,  Mrs.  Mitchell  asked : 

"Where  is  Mr.  Herriott?" 

Without  removing  her  eyes  from  the  long  wistaria 
plumes  waving  overhead,  she  answered  in  a  colder 
tone: 

"  When  father  heard  last,  he  was  in  Norway,  but 
since  then  I  read  an  account  of  a  dinner  given  to  the 
party  of  which  he  was  a  member,  by  a  geographical 
society  in  London." 

"  You  have  received  no  letter?  " 

"  None  recently,  and  I  do  not  expect  any." 

"  Because  you  do  not  deserve  any.  I  am  so  disap 
pointed  in  him." 

"  In  what  respect  ?  I  imagined  that  in  your  eyes, 
as  in  father's,  he  was  simply  perfect." 

"  He  is  capable  of  something  far  better  than  loung 
ing  through  life  with  his  hands  in  his  pockets,  and 
loafing  around  the  world.  If  he  could  only  have  the 


17 


258  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

good  luck  to  lose  his  money,  he  might  accomplish 
what  God  makes  such  men  for." 

"  He  is  not  an  idle  tramp.  He  is  kept  busy  dancing 
attendance  on  his  exacting  bride." 

"  Bride ! "  exclaimed  Mrs.  Mitchell,  with  such 
startling  shrillness  that  Delilah  sprang  out  of  her  lap 
and  surveyed  her  with  astonishment. 

"  Not  a  bride  of  pink  flesh,  on  whom  he  can  bestow 
collars  of  diamonds,  but  an  old  dame  of  hoary  locks, 
whose  harsh  jargon  he  considers  musical,  -md  who, 
having  taken  his  purse  and  tied  him  to  her  apron 
strings,  drags  him  from  the  bowels  of  the  earth  to 
the  mountains  of  the  moon,  amusing  him  with  photo 
graphs  of  microbes  and  eclipses,  and  with  prehistoric 
skeletons  that  her  relentless  horny  claws  have  stolen 
from  their  lawful  graves.  Long  ago  he  was  wedded 
to  '  Science,'  and  of  course  he  keeps  his  bridal  vows." 

"  I  am  sure  you  do  not  fully  understand  him,  and 
I  wonder  he  did  not  marry  Miss  Stanley;  she  is  so 
lovely,  and  he  certainly  admired  her." 

"  She  is  indeed  a  luscious  beauty,  and  attracted 
him,  but  if  he  really  had  any  serious  intentions,  I 
think  she  lost  him  that  night  when  the  alarm  of  fire 
emptied  the  theatre.  Ours  was  a  proscenium  box  in 
the  second  tier.  Eleanor  Stanley  had  dined  with  Cap 
tain  Sefton's  sister,  he  was  her  escort,  and  I  went 
with  Mr.  Herriott.  Of  course  you  know  all  about  the 
horrible  tragedy,  but  I  never  told  any  one  what  pre 
ceded  it.  Toward  the  end,  and  while  the  curtain  was 
down,  Captain  Sefton  so  far  forgot  himself  as  to  re 
peat  an  unpardonably  risque  story  of  a  smart  set 
leader,  at  which  Eleanor  laughed  heartily.  I  stared 
at  my  bouquet  of  orchids,  and  lifted  them  to  shield 
mv  face  where  I  felt  the  blood.  Without  moving  an 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  259 

eyelash  Mr.  Noel  sat  like  a  sphinx,  looking  steadily 
at  Eleanor,  then  took  my  opera  glass  and  watched  a 
party  of  pretty  girls  in  the  dress  circle.  His  face  was 
as  absolutely  impassive  as  one  of  the  masks  frescoed 
on  the  ceiling.  In  the  middle  of  the  next  and  closing 
act,  a  scream  from  the  rear  of  the  stage  startled  us, 
and  almost  simultaneously  two  of  the  ballet  girls 
rushed  from  behind  the  wings,  with  fire  blazing  in 
their  short,  gauzy  skirts.  One  ran  to  the  corner  of 
the  stage  just  under  our  box,  and  the  actors  fled  from 
her.  Mr.  Herriott  put  his  hand  heavily  on  my 
shoulder. 

"  Do  not  move  an  inch  till  I  come." 

He  snatched  his  overcoat  and  my  velvet  opera 
cloak,  stepped  on  the  railing  of  the  box,  measured 
the  distance  with  his  eye  and  leaped  down.  He  struck 
on  his  feet,  and  staggered,  but  the  next  instant  he 
reached  the  girl,  who  ran  shrieking  up  and  down, 
caught  her,  threw  my  cloak  over  her  head,  pressed 
her  to  the  floor,  covered  her  with  his  overcoat,  and 
rolled  her  over  and  over  as  if  she  were  a  ball.  Of 
course  she  was  horribly  burned,  but  she  lived.  The 
other  poor  creature  kept  her  hands  before  her  face 
as  a  screen  from  the  flames,  missed  her  footing, 
stumbled  over  the  footlights  and  fell  among  the 
orchestra  chairs.  The  musicians  smothered  the 
flames,  but  she  died  after  two  hours  of  torture.  Mr. 
Herriott's  gloves  saved  his  hands,  but  one  wrist  was 
badly  blistered,  and  his  mustache  singed.  When  we 
were  going  home  I  told  him  how  enthusiastically 
Eleanor  admired  and  praised  his  bravery,  and  that 
she  declared  she  would  strive  to  win  his  affection 
were  he  not  so  '  goody-goody ' ;  she  feared  he  would 
expect  her  to  be  equally  pious.  A  queer  expression 


260  A   SPECKLED  BIRD 

I  could  not  understand  crossed  his  face,  and  when  he 
spoke  his  voice  was  stern : 

"'I  am  not  pious;  more  is  the  pity!  At  least  I 
am  too  honest  to  accept  praise  I  do  not  deserve. 
Please  be  so  kind  as  not  to  refer  again  to  this  evening, 
several  surprising  incidents  of  which  I  shall  be  glad 
to  forget/ 

A  few  days  later  he  sent  to  replace  my  scorched 
velvet,  that  gorgeous  ivory  satin  opera  cloak  bro 
caded  with  lilies  in  silver,  which  father  and  you  wished 
me  to  accept,  and  I  based  my  refusal  on  his  request, 
as  the  mere  sight  of  it  would  inevitably  remind  him 
of  a  night  neither  of  us  wished  to  recall.  Look 
yonder." 

"  Yes ;  there  must  be  a  picket  off  that  white  game 
yard  fence,  for  I  am  positive  I  fastened  the  gate  this 
morning.  Run  on  ahead  and  open  the  gate  wide, 
for  when  they  are  driven  back  they  never  can  find 
the  crack  where  they  came  out.  That  white  rooster 
is  all  ruffled  up  for  a  fight  with  the  red  one.  Scare 
the  hens  back  and  stand  on  one  side." 

When  the  fugitives  had  been  shut  in,  the  two 
women  stood  admiring  the  flock. 

"  Dearie,  do  you  know  how  old  these  chickens 
are?  Forty  years  before  railroads  were  built  in  this 
state,  your  grandfather  brought  them  in  a  champagne 
basket  on  the  top  of  a  stage-coach  from  somewhere 
in  Maryland,  and  the  person  who  gave  them  to  him 
had  imported  them  from  England  forty  years  before. 
Think  of  it !  " 

"  I  do,  with  astonishment  difficult  to  express. 
More  than  eighty  years  old,  and  no  sign  of  decrepi 
tude  in  crowing,  fighting  and  laying  eggs!  Little 
mother,  what  are  tarrididdles?" 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  261 

Laughing,  she  put  her  hands  on  Eliza's  shoulder  and 
shook  her  gently.  The  little  woman  pinched  her  ear. 

"  Don't  talk  slang  to  me.  You  know  I  did  not 
mean  these  very  identical  fowls  are  those  that  came 
in  the  champagne  basket,  but  the  original  trio,  two 
hens  and  a  cock,  were  kept  in  a  separate  yard,  and 
so  the  stock  has  remained  pure  game  for  more  than 
forty  years.  They  are  such  beauties,  and  to  the  last 
day  of  her  life  your  grandmother  was  so  proud  and 
fond  of  them.  One  morning  when  we  were  feeding 
them  she  told  me  how  General  Maurice  had  laughed 
over  the  cunning  of  one  of  the  negroes  whose  duty 
it  was  to  attend  to  the  fowl  yards.  The  general  had 
promised  a  setting  of  eggs  to  a  friend  in  a  neighbor 
ing  county,  and  ordered  the  man  to  bring  him  one 
dozen  perfectly  fresh.  The  negro  protested  against 
a  violation  of  the  rule  that  no  one  else  should  own 
the  white  games,  so  that  if  stolen  they  could  be 
traced.  His  master  insisted,  and  when  the  eggs  were 
handed  to  him  he  packed  them  very  carefully  in  cot 
ton,  to  prevent  jostling,  and  sent  them  to  his  friend. 
Some  time  afterward,  a  letter  reached  your  grand 
father,  informing  him  none  of  the  eggs  had  hatched, 
and  he  called  the  man  and  read  the  letter  to  him. 

"  '  Narry  aigg  hatched?  Well,  I  made  sure  they 
couldn't,  for  I  am  'sponsible  for  keeping  dem  chick 
ens  safe  at  home  and  I  'tends  to  my  bizness.  You 
see,  marster,  I  knowed  you  was  in  a  mighty  tight 
fix,  'cause  natchelly  you  hated  to  say  no  when  Dr. 
Glenn  axed  for  'em,  and  most  natchelly  you  didn't 
want  our  yaller-breasted,  brass-winged  white  games 
crowing  in  other  folks'  yards,  and  so  I  just  pintedly 
shuck  'em  and  shuck  'em  like  thunder,  till  they  was 
foamy  enough  for  Celie's  omlet  skillet.' ' 


CHAPTER  XIX 

If  owners  of  old  manorial  houses  kept  frank  and 
faithful  log-books,  strange  domestic  records  might 
now  and  then  be  read,  rivalling  in  tragic  incidents 
those  of  passing  ships.  Conspicuously  infelicitous 
was  the  stream  of  events  beating  against  Calvary 
House  and  reducing  an  ancient,  broad  estate  and 
handsome  three-storied  brick  residence  to  a  few  im 
poverished  acres,  and  a  rambling  structure  partly  de 
stroyed  by  fire,  and  wholly  abandoned  to  vacancy  and 
isolation  in  consequence  of  grewsome  gossip.  During 
eighty  years  the  proprietorship  had  been  vested  in 
only  two  families,  totally  unrelated ;  in  the  first,  the 
reckless  extravagance  and  unbridled  careers  of  four 
beautiful  women  depleted  the  domestic  coffer,  neces 
sitated  the  sacrifice  and  sale  of  the  property,  and 
drove  a  weakly  indulgent  father  to  suicide.  In  the 
second  the  vices  of  sons  plunged  the  widowed  mother 
into  melancholia  and  an  insane  asylum. 

From  time  to  time  portions  of  land  were  sold  to 
enable  the  boys  to  continue  their  wild  carousals. 
Fratricidal  strife  ensued,  and  one  brother  spent  the 
dismal  residue  of  his  days  in  the  penitentiary,  expiat 
ing  the  murder  of  the  other.  The  vicious  round  of 
horse-racing,  cock-fighting,  fox-hunting,  gambling 
and  drinking  once  madly  run  had  ended  in  the  final 
wreck,  and  what  remained  of  the  estate  fell  into  the 
hands  of  Mr.  Herriott's  father,  whose  agent  held  the 
mortgage.  Sufficiently  grim  was  the  foundation  of 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  263 

facts;  yet  still  more  appalling  the  superstructure  of 
neighborhood  traditions,  and  the  ghoulish  tales  of  su 
perstitious  servants.  Venerable  trees,  whose  shelter 
ing  arms  might  have  veiled  the  ruin,  had  been  over 
grown  by  mistletoe,  until  very  few  survived  to  stand 
guard,  and  when  a  hunter  crept  with  his  pointer 
through  broom-sedge  waist  high  all  over  the  lawn, 
his  cigar  spark  set  the  whole  aflame,  and  only  two 
fine  old  oaks  close  to  the  house  were  left  as  sentinels. 
Later,  a  lightning  bolt  destroyed  one;  two  years 
after,  an  equinoctial  gale  blew  the  other  half  across 
the  mossy  roof.  Stark,  weather  beaten,  its  broken  win 
dows  like  eyeless  sockets  in  a  skull,  the  old  house, 
dumb  in  desolation,  stood  in  dire  need  of  the  mercies 
of  bell,  candle,  censer,  and  aspergill  to  exorcise  its 
garrison  of  unholy  spectres.  Five  years  after  the 
place  had  been  given  by  Noel  Herriott  to  the 
"  Brothers  of  the  Order  of  Calvary,"  lime,  paint,  wall 
paper,  patient  toil  and  a  wise  appreciation  of  the 
adaptability  of  angles,  corridors,  dormer  windows 
and  verandas,  in  architectural  alterations,  had  trans 
formed  it  into  a  quaintly  irregular  but  picturesque 
structure.  Outside  mouldy  walls  were  curtained 
with  ampelopsis  lace,  while  from  a  circular  belfry  be 
tween  the  original  square  rock  chimneys,  a  deep-toned 
bell  swung  below  a  tall  gilt  cross,  and  uttered  its  holy 
message  of  peace  to  a  troubled  and  tragic  past. 
The  basement  had  been  converted  into  a  refectory, 
kitchen  and  store  room,  the  large  apartments  were 
partitioned  into  individual  cells,  and  an  infirmary; 
and  the  long  drawing-room  became  a  chapel,  with  a 
small  oratory  adjoining.  Here  a  pipe  organ  sounded 
through  the  arch  leading  into  the  chapel,  and  over 
this  opening  a  purple  curtain  fell  when  service  ended. 


2o4  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

Beyond  and  in  line  with  the  oratory,  a  one-story  wing 
with  a  wide  cloistered  piazza  looked  toward  the  rear 
of  the  house,  and  held  a  sacristy;  then  three  small 
chambers  fronting  the  vine-draped  cloister  behind 
whose  arches  paced,  book  in  hand,  fathers,  brothers 
and  lay  brothers. 

In  the  early  stages  of  the  era  of  renovation  the 
place  had  resembled  an  industrial  farm  rather  than 
a  religious  retreat;  but  gradually,  as  orchard  and 
vineyard  were  replanted,  gardens  outlined  and  culti 
vated,  a  solemn,  peaceful  silence  enveloped  Calvary 
House,  broken  by  no  ruder  sounds  than  Angelus, 
chants  from  the  chapel,  low-swelling  organ  tones, 
and  that  peculiarly  sweet,  thrilling  threnody  of  hedge 
sparrows  moaning  in  a  ragged  thicket  of  very  old 
lilacs.  Along  the  front  of  the  sloping  lawn  a  fence 
divided  it  from  the  turnpike  leading  into  the  city, 
and  over  the  wide  wooden  gate  sprang  an  arch  bear 
ing  in  black  letters,  Calvary  House,  and  surmounted 
by  a  cross.  From  the  gate  latch  swung  the  porter's 
bell. 

Since  the  day  when,  standing  at  an  open  grave 
close  to  Leighton's  mound  in  Evergreen,  Father 
Temple  had  read  the  committal  service  as  his  wife's 
coffin  was  lowered,  and  pronounced  the  fare\vell  ben 
ediction,  the  springs  of  his  busy  life  seemed  to  have 
broken.  Max  Harlberg  and  the  few  who  had  followed 
the  hearse,  stole  away,  leaving  the  priest  on  his  knees. 
Later,  as  stars  came  out  to  guard  the  hosts  of  sleep 
ers,  a  watchman  found  him  prone  on  the  damp 
mound,  and  in  a  heavy  stupor.  An  ambulance  carried 
him  to  the  nearest  hospital,  where  he  rallied  slowly 
from  an  attack  of  pneumonia  that  left  his  lungs  too 
weak  to  permit  the  possibility  of  preaching,  and  the 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  265 

doctors  warned  him  a  year's  rest  was  imperative. 
Engagements  for  "  missions  "  and  "  retreats  "  were 
cancelled,  and  his  superior  summoned  him  home,  but 
after  a  few  days  advised  him  to  go  South  and  visit 

his  relatives  in  Y until  the  winds  of  March  had 

blown  out  their  fury.  On  his  return,  still  thin  and 
wan,  he  resumed  his  duties,  and  from  Prime  to  Com 
pline  missed  no  service.  After  Vespers,  the  tolling 
of  the  De  Profundis  bell  called  all  to  their  knees  in 
silent  prayer  for  the  dead,  and  his  bowed  head  was 
always  the  last  lifted.  How  much  penance  was  self- 
imposed  none  knew,  but  a  change  had  come  into  the 
habitually  sad  face;  keen  mental  strife,  devouring 
anxiety,  were  at  an  end,  and  the  large  dark  eyes  told 
of  an  inward  patience  that  was  not  yet  peace,  of  an 
acceptance  of  the  verdict  that  his  life  spelled  hopeless 
failure.  So  marked  was  the  alteration  in  figure  and 
features,  that  one  sunny  day  at  Calvary  House,  as 
Mr.  Herriott  grasped  his  hand,  he  was  painfully 
startled. 

"  Vernon !  You  are  little  more  than  a  holy  shadow ! 
If  starving  is  the  regimen  prescribed  here,  I  do  not 
feel  tempted  to  tarry  even  for  a  day." 

"  Noel — God  bless  you,  dear  old  fellow !  At  last 
you  have  remembered  us,  and  how  well  you  look ! 
The  bare  sight  of  your  superb  strength  is  tonic.  Come 
into  the  chapel.  Terce  bell  is  sounding.  After  a 
little  the  Brotherhood  will  greet  you." 

Under  the  guidance  of  Father  Superior  Elverton, 
a  gaunt  man  of  unusual  height,  with  the  ascetic 
jaw  of  a  Trappist,  and  dreamy  eyes  mystical  as  Hugo 
of  St.  Victor,  Mr.  Herriott  was  shown  fields,  garden 
and  buildings,  and  after  dinner  in  the  refectory, 
where,  in  honor  of  his  presence,  conversation  was 


266  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

allowed,  he  asked  the  privilege  of  being  left  alone 
with  Father  Temple.  It  was  a  warm  day,  and  draw 
ing  chairs  to  a  shaded  recess  of  the  cloister,  Mr.  Her- 
riott  said: 

"  I  am  so  glad  the  weather  favored  me  to-day  for 
this  visit.  It  will  rain  soon." 

"  No ;  look  at  that  deep  blue,  clear  sky.  I  see 
no  prophecy  of  rain,  but  you  have  tried  so  many 
climates,  doubtless  you  are  weather  wise." 

"  If  a  man  who  has  slept  often  in  tents,  open  boats 
and  on  the  bare  ground  learns  nothing  of  nature's 
atmospheric  signal  code,  he  is  far  below  savages  in 
intelligence,  and  more  ignorant  than  brutes.  You 
of  the  shut-in  clan  are  not  skilled  meteorologists, 
but  time  is  too  precious  to  be  wasted  in  idle 
weather  chat.  Vernon,  there  is  much  I  should  like 
to  know,  yet  I  shrink  from  questioning  you.  Many 
letters  have  been  lost,  and  my  home  news  came  in 
snatches,  sometimes  with  no  connection,  no  coher 
ence.  I  have  thought  of  you  constantly,  and  now 
what  you  are  willing  to  tell  me  of  all  that  has  hap 
pened  since  we  parted  in  New  York  that  Sunday 
night,  I  shall  be  glad  to  hear." 

Leaning  his  elbow  on  the  brick  base  of  an  arch  and 
bowing  his  head  in  his  palm,  Father  Temple  narrated 
the  circumstances  that  attended  the  death  of  his  wife 
and  son,  withholding  nothing.  His  muffled  voice 
was  steady  and  passionless,  as  if  reading  from  the 
breviary,  and  when  the  face  lifted  it  showed  only 
the  quiet  hopelessness  in  eyes  of  one  going  back  over 
a  battlefield  where  all  that  was  cherished  went  down. 

"  Thank  you,  Temple.  It  might  have  been  worse, 
and  at  least  you  must  be  comforted  in  knowing  that 
at  the  last  she  relented  and  did  you  justice." 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  267 

"  The  last  has  become  first.  All  that  preceded  it  I 
have  cast  away,  and  that  final  hour  of  forgiveness, 
that  touch  on  my  head — that  feeble  clinging  of  her 
fingers — is  what  remains  of  my  past  life — what  sus 
tains  me  for  the  future." 

"  Try  to  avoid  morbid  retrospection.  Your  expi 
ation  has  been  so  complete  you  have  no  grounds 
for  self-reproach;  you  are  still  a  young  man,  and 
your  life  work  is  ahead  of  you." 

The  priest  threw  out  one  hand,  and  his  trained 
tone  broke  suddenly. 

"  Expiation  will  never  end  while  I  have  breath  to 
pray — not  until  the  same  grave  that  holds  my  victims 
covers  me.  You  can  not  understand,  because  you 
know  no  more  about  love  than  the  rubric!  If  you 
had  ever  felt  your  wife's  lips  on  yours,  or  the  clasp 
of  your  child's  arms,  and  heard  his  glad,  tender  cry  of 
'  father ! ' — you  would  realize  that  no  expiation  could 
be  sufficient,  if  your  hand  had  smitten  them  to  ruin." 

"  Perhaps  I  do  understand  the  torture  more  thor 
oughly  than  you  imagine,  and  you  must  allow  me  to 
say  that  were  I  as  sadly  circumstanced  as  yourself,  I 
should  set  my  back  to  the  past,  and  resolutely  hunt 
for  sunshine  in  coming  years.  Deliberate,  intentional 
villainy  was  never  your  sin,  and  for  a  foolish  boy's 
rash  haste  you  did  everything  possible  to  atone.  I 
shall  be  sorry  to  see  you  so  unmanly  as  to  sink  down 
in  the  mildew  of  an  abject  melancholy.  Your  sur 
roundings  invite  morbid  memories,  and  just  here, 
Vernon,  let  me  say  I  do  not  like  your  refectory.  It 
is  dark,  damp,  mouldy,  and  you  must  make  a  change. 
I  should  enjoy  breakfasting  in  the  catacombs  quite 
as  much.  Ask  your  superior  to  estimate  the  cost  of 
building  a  refectory  on  this  floor,  say  to  the  left  yon- 


268  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

der,  and  perhaps  the  matter  may  be  arranged  satis 
factorily.  Another  bell !  What  office  comes  next  ?  " 

"  That  is  to  notify  us  '  free  time  '  is  over  for  the 
day.  We  have  an  hour  in  which  to  employ  ourselves 
without  direction.  Below  the  vegetable  garden 
Brother  Theodore  comes  from  his  pet  strawberry 
bed,  and  over  yonder,  what  looks  like  a  huge  black 
bird  with  flapping  white  wings  is  Brother  Aristide 
dusting  the  leaves  of  his  grapevines  with  some  in 
secticide  powder.  He  came  from  Burgundy,  and  be 
lieves  that  ledge  behind  the  line  of  cherry  trees  lying 
south-southeast  will  give  him  Chambertin  equal  to 
the  best  in  Cote  d'Or.  You  see  even  here  each 
trundles  his  recreation  hoop  once  a  day." 

An  east  wind  had  spun  fine  silver  cloud  lines  curv 
ing  across  the  blue,  clustering,  widening  into  two 
vast,  fleecy  pinions  that  were  floating  slowly  to  the 
gates  of  the  west.  Despite  sunshine,  chilliness  edged 
the  air,  and  Father  Temple  coughed  hoarsely. 

"  Your  reverence  should  not  stay  here  next  winter. 
It  is  too  humid.  As  the  crow  flies  and  the  wind 
sweeps,  the  Atlantic  can  not  be  more  than  twenty 
miles  away,  and  when  northeast  gales  howl  from 
Barnegat  to  Hatteras,  this  is  no  sanatorium  for  you. 
If  you  have  no  special  preference  for  tuberculosis, 
and  have  not  vowed  slow  suicide  on  that  altar,  I 
should  be  glad  if  you  would  select  some  other  mode 
of  exit  when  you  finally  say  good-bye.  Consumption 
robbed  me  of  my  father — I  hope  I  shall  not  lose  my 
friend  also  thereby." 

The  priest  smiled,  and  laid  his  thin  hand  on  his 
companion's  knee. 

"  In  many  characteristics  we  differ  so  widely,  I 
have  often  wondered  that  you  care  at  all  for  me." 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  269 

"  You  were  so  honest  and  fearless  and  manly  when 
we  met  at  college.  You  showed  such  genuine  pluck 
in  that  hazing  scandal,  so  much  quiet,  heroic  magnan 
imity  when  the  official  investigation  followed.  Ver- 
non,  for  God's  sake,  wake  up!  You  have  talent; 
don't  doze  like  a  toad  under  a  stone  wall.  Come  out 
of  shadows  that  paralyze  you,  and  try  to  make  your 
mark  in  the  world  of  letters.  I  do  not  wish  to  change 


my " 

He  paused  and  frowned.  A  flush  tinged  Father 
Temple's  sallow  cheek. 

"  You  do  not  wish  to  consider  me  unmanly 
now?" 

"  That  is  exactly  it,  and  if  you  force  me  to  do  so 
I  swear  I  never  will  forgive  you.  Don't  brood  and 
mope.  Go  back  to  Plato  and  Horace — they  are  the 
best  brooms  for  cloistral  cobwebs — and  promise  me 
you  will  not  stay  here  next  winter." 

"  My  cousin  Allison  Kent  and  Eglah  insist  I  shall 

spend  December  and  January  with  them,  in  Y , 

and  since  I  am  forbidden  to  preach  at  present,  I  may 
accept  the  invitation.  I  was  there  on  a  brief  visit 
several  months  ago." 

"  Tell  me  about  them.  It  has  been  long  since  I 
heard  directly." 

"  The  judge  has  grown  extremely  stout,  and  says 
he  enjoys  the  lazy  leisure  of  Southern  life  among  the 
opulent,  but  he  seemed  restless  and  abstracted,  and 
was  often  absent  on  fishing  excursions.  Eglah  per 
plexes  me.  She  is  graver,  more  reticent,  and  far  more 
beautiful,  but  reminds  me  of  a  person  walking  in 
troubled  sleep,  determined,  yet  vaguely  apprehensive. 
At  times  it  occurred  to  me  that  her  relations  with 
her  father  were  not  as  tenderly  cordial  as  I  remem- 


270  A    SPECKLED   BIRD 

bered  in  the  Washington  life ;  he  never  caressed  her, 
and  she  seemed  in  a  certain  degree  aloof,  but  her 
careful  deference  in  manner  and  speech  was  exquisite. 
She  told  me  his  retirement  from  a  senatorial  position 
was  the  supreme  disappointment  of  her  life,  and  her 
chief  solace  now  is  the  preparation  of  a  volume  of  his 
speeches,  prefaced  by  a  biographical  sketch  she  in 
tends  to  write.  I  think  her  father  is  very  unpopular 

with  the  majority  of  old  families  in  Y ,  who  will 

never  forgive  his  course  while  Federal  judge,  and  as 
they  represent  the  best  social  element,  conditions  be 
yond  her  control  have  embarrassed  Eglah,  but  she 
gives  no  hint  and  fronts  the  situation  with  admirable 
cool  calmness." 

Leaning  back  in  his  chair,  his  hands  clasped  behind 
his  head,  Mr.  Herriott  seemed  to  watch  the  narrowing 
circles  of  a  hawk  beneath  which  three  frantic  pigeons 
dashed  aimlessly  round  and  round,  and  in  the  final 
swift  swoop  one  white  bird  disappeared  in  a  vanishing 
brown  shadow. 

"  You  have  lost  a  pigeon." 

"  We  have  none.  The  lay  brothers  complain  of 
their  depredations  in  the  garden,  and  sometimes 
trap  those  that  belong  in  the  city,  but  they  are  always 
carried  off  and  set  free." 

:c  Vernon,  why  does  not  your  cousin  Eglah  marry 
Roger  Hull?  He  is  as  nearly  worthy  of  her  as  any 
man  she  wrill  ever  meet ;  he  is  eminently  good  look 
ing,  bright,  a  spirited  debater,  and  as  it  is  said  he  car 
ries  the  votes  of  his  district  in  his  vest  pocket,  he  has 
an  assured  political  position  where  she  could  gratify 
her  ambition.  If  he  lives  he  will  sit  in  the  Senate. 
He  was  very  devoted  in  his  attentions.  Is  he  still 
loyal?" 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  271 

"  No.  I  hear  he  is  reported  engaged  to  a  pretty 
girl  in  Washington,  whose  father  is  a  naval  officer. 
Certainly  Eglah  does  not  lack  beaux.  She  has  very 
fine  horses,  rides  daily,  and  one  of  her  most  frequent 
escorts  was  a  Dr.  Burbridge,  very  handsome  and  a 
specialist  in  neurology.  I  don't  know  Hull,  but  he 
has  been  twice  to  Nutwood  since  Eglah  came  back 
from  Europe,  and  Cousin  Allison  said  that  she  froze 
him  so  completely  on  his  last  visit  that  he  gave  up  the 
chase,  and  consoled  himself  with  a  more  responsive 
charmer.  If  political  life  allures  her,  Hull  certainly 
offered  an  attractive  opportunity,  but  I  am  sure  her 
father  did  not  favor  that  suit,  and  as  her  ambition  was 
more  for  his  preferment  than  from  any  personal  fond 
ness  for  a  congressional  career,  she  will  soon  cease 
to  regret,  and  find  contentement  in  her  lovely  sur 
roundings." 

"  I  am  afraid  not.  Pardon  the  simile — but  take  a 
thoroughbred  filly  raised  and  trained  on  the  race 
track,  and  when  she  is  champing  her  bit,  trembling 
for  the  signal  to  start,  lead  her  aside,  shut  her  in 
a  pasture,  fasten  her  to  a  plough  trace,  or  harness 
her  with  a  mule  on  the  other  side  of  a  wagon- 
tongue,  and  do  you  wonder  the  load  comes  to  grief, 
or  the  furrows  are  crooked  when  she  sees  the  racers 
flash  by,  and  hears  the  rush  of  hoofs,  the  roar  of  cheer 
ing  thousands?  Eglah  knows  what  she  wants,  and 
disdains  compromise.  The  present  environment  suits 
her  as  little  as  a  stagnant  millpond  would  a  yacht 
cup  challenger." 

"  I  wish  she  could  marry  happily,  but  the  day  I 
came  away  we  stood  at  the  front  steps  and  I  told  her 
I  hoped  I  might  have  the  privilege  of  performing  the 
ceremony,  if  during  my  life  she  consented  to  make 


272  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

some  man  happy.  The  judge  laughed  and  tapped 
me  on  the  shoulder.  '  I  will  see  you  get  that  wedding 
fee.  When  you  are  needed  I  shall  telegraph  you.' 
She  stepped  a  little  closer  to  him,  put  her  hands  be 
hind  her,  and  looked  at  him  with  strange  intentness; 
then  turning  to  me  she  said,  with  singular  emphasis : 
1 1  shall  never  marry.  As  I  have  been  baptized,  only 
one  more  ceremony  can  be  performed  for  me,  and  if 
Ma-Lila  does  not  insist  upon  a  Methodist  minister, 
I  promise  that  you  shall  pronounce  '  ashes  to  ashes, 
dust  to  dust ' — when  mother  earth  takes  me  back  to 
her  heart/ 

"  Just  then  Mrs.  Mitchell  dropped  her  basket,  and 
the  clatter  of  keys  and  scissors  broke  the  strain,  which 
I  could  not  understand.  But  Eglah's  eyes  recalled 
something  I  have  not  thought  of  for  years.  Do  you 
recollect  a  picture  of  the  Norns  we  saw  that  sum 
mer  we  walked  through  Wales?" 

"  Three  figures,  one  veiled  ?  We  could  not  find  out 
who  painted  it,  but  I  never  shall  forget  the  wonder 
ful  eyes  of  Urd." 

"  They  looked  at  me  again  that  day  in  Nutwood. 
The  expression  was  as  inscrutable  as  the  smile  of  Mona 
Lisa — not  defiance,  nor  yet  renunciation,  neither 
scorn  nor  bitterness,  but  deathless  pride  and  a  pain 
so  hopeless  no  sound  could  voice  it." 

There  was  a  brief  silence,  broken  by  the  muffled 
chanting  in  the  chapel,  and  Mr.  Herriott's  hands  were 
gripped  so  tight  behind  his  head  the  nails  were  pur 
ple,  but  his  face  showed  no  emotion,  and  when  he 
spoke  his  tone  betrayed  only  quiet  sympathy. 

"  For  many  years  I  have  associated  her  with  a  pas 
sage  in  Jeremiah :  '  As  a  speckled  bird,  the  birds  round 
about  are  against  her.1  Poor  little  speckled  bird,  beat- 


A  SPECKLED  BIRD  273 

ing  out  her  life.  Battling  alone  against  a  host  of 
hawks  is  dreary  work." 

"  I  suppose  you  are  going  to  Y ?  " 

"  No,  I  must  get  back  home.  I  have  been  away 
too  long.  My  poor  faithful  Susan  is  dead/' 

"  I  hope  you  are  tired  of  globe-trotting,  and  ready 
to  anchor  yourself  at  your  own  fireside." 

"  As  yet  I  have  made  no  definite  plans ;  have  been 
considering  two  recent  offers.  One  is  the  presidency 
of  a  great  railroad  system — a  position  I  might  possi 
bly  fit  myself  to  occupy  if  I  went  into  the  machine 
shops  and  roundhouses  and  worked  hard  for  the 
next  five  years.  It  happens  that  the  shares  and  bonds 
of  one  short  but  very  important  line  which  my  father 
practically  owned  when  the  middle  West  was  com 
paratively  undeveloped,  have  appreciated  enormously, 
and  now  that  road  is  the  link  absolutely  necessary  to 
the  contemplated  consolidation  of  a  new  route  that 
will  touch  the  Pacific.  I  cabled  my  refusal  to  sell  out, 
and  the  next  bait  was  the  presidency.  Mr.  Stadmeyer 
and  I  have  controlling  interests  and  our  views  accord. 
Two  days  ago  we  had  a  meeting,  at  which  I  declined 
office,  and  we  leased  our  road  for  thirty  years.  That 
relieved  me  from  one  horn  of  the  dilemma ;  the  other 
still  threatens.  A  Polar  expedition  will  be  ready  next 
year,  and  I  have  been  asked  to  take  a  place  aboard 
ship." 

"  Noel,  I  beg  of  you,  dismiss  that  thought.  Of 
all  scientific  follies,  that  Pole-hunting  mania  is  the 
wildest,  the  most  indefensible.  To  add  your  bleaching 
bones  to  the  cairns  heaped  on  the  eternal  ice  altar 
of  Polar  night  is  no  ambition  worthy  of  you.  Don't 
think  me  childish,  but  the  sight  of  you  is  such  a  com- 


18 


274  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

fort  I  could  not  bear  to  have  you  risk  your  life  search 
ing  for  mares'  nests  so  far  away." 

Mr.  Herriott  laughed — a  genial,  hearty,  deep- 
chested  sound  rarely  heard  in  cloisters. 

"  Get  rid  of  that  cough,  and  I  will  take  you  along 
as  chaplain  to  christen  the  Pole — presumably  it  is 
pagan  at  present.  I  wish  you  would  go  down  to 
New  Mexico  or  Arizona  and  make  a  sensible  effort  to 
build  up  your  constitution,  which  seems  suing  you  for 
damages.  Leave  medicine  and  the  breviary  in  your 
cell,  and  lie  under  the  stars  and  inhale  that  wonder 
ful,  healing  air.  When  you  wish  to  pray  go  down 
into  the  Grand  Canon,  you  will  find  you  can  suc 
ceed  without  needing  a  book  to  help  you.  In  that 
sky  verily  'the  heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God; 
and  the  firmament  sheweth  His  handiwork.'  Mis 
sion  work,  and  to  spare,  would  interest  you  at  a 
Moqui  Pueblo,  and  I  can  recommend  one  whose 
primeval,  idyllic  repose  dwells  in  my  memory  like 
an  eclogue  of  Virgil's.  It  is  spread  over  the  crown 
and  sides  of  a  precipice  where  terraces  tilt  their  outer 
edges  upward  to  prevent  water  from  draining  the  little 
gardens.  Masonry-lined  cisterns  gleam  under  moon 
light  like  molten  silver,  sheep  and  goats  bleat  in  their 
stone  enclosures,  a  frieze  of  kids  runs  below  the  cor 
nice  of  brown  cupids  drowsing  on  the  wall,  and  all 
about  the  mesa  a  pink  cloud  of  blooming  peach  trees 
and  a  yellow  mist  of  acacias.  Weigh  this  cure  scheme, 
discuss  it  in  Sanhedrim,  and  if  you  think  favorably 
of  it  let  me  hear  from  you  before  October,  as  I  have 
several  friends  among  ranchmen,  and  some  of  the 
Moquis  have  not  forgotten  me." 

"  Do  you  intend  to  settle  down  now  at  your  lake- 
shore  house  ?  " 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  275 

'*  Yes,  for  the  present.  I  have  been  invited  to  write 
for  two  scientific  magazines,  and  one  of  the  subjects 
suggested  rather  appeals  to  me — a  comparison  of  the 
fiords  of  Norway  with  those  of  Alaska  and  British 
Columbia,  but  I  have  not  fully  decided.  However,  I 
am  committed  to  help  Chalcott  verify  numerous  cita 
tions  from  Strabo's  tenth  book,  relative  to  Crete,  and 
I  must  brush  up  my  classics.  Chalcott  is  sanguine 
of  '  great  finds  '  around  the  site  of  ancient  Knossos  in 
the  near  future.  He  has  been  stung  by  the  Pelasgian 
bee,  and  I  have  promised  to  hunt  and  copy  some 
passages  from  Strabo." 

He  took  his  hat  from  the  floor  and  rose. 

"  Now  I  must  say  good-bye  to  father  superior  and 
the  brethren." 

"  We  hoped  you  would  spend  at  least  one  night 
with  us,  in  the  room  we  have  named  and  set  apart 
for  you." 

"  I  must  get  back  to  Philadelphia  in  time  for  a 
meeting  to-morrow  of  stockholders  and  (directors  of 
our  railroad.  Mr.  Stadmeyer  requested  me  to  at 
tend,  though  he  is  really  our  watchdog.  Don't  delay 
the  refectory  improvements,  and  since  you  are  all  so 
good  as  to  give  me  a  special  penitential  apartment, 
I  wish  you  would  brighten  it  up  with  a  cheerful  paper, 
and  allow  me  the  privilege  of  sending  some  human 
derelict  to  anchor  here  in  peace.  God  knows,  there 
are  fleets  of  souls  adrift,  and  I  should  be  glad  if,  for 
my  sake,  you  can  tow  some  into  the  snug  harbor 
of  my  cell,  until  the  day  comes  when  my  sins  culmi 
nate  and  force  me  here  for  penance." 

When  the  two  walked  down  to  the  outer  gate,  the 
contrast  between  the  virile  athlete  and  the  shadowy 
black  form  of  the  priest  was  pathetically  vivid. 


276  A   SPECKLED  BIRD 

The  busy  shuttles  of  the  east  wind  had  spread  their 
cirrus  laces  even  along  the  western  horizon  where  the 
sun  had  vanished,  and  the  sky  was  one  huge  arching 
shell  enamelled  with  mother-of-pearl,  as  the  cloudlets 
burned  in  the  afterglow. 

"  Vernon,  don't  look  back.  You  have  balanced 
your  books  with  the  past.  Dear  old  fellow,  I  wish 
to  think  of  you  as  fulfilling  the  rich  promise  of  our 
college  days." 

"  Assure  me  you  will  give  up  that  Arctic  whim. 
The  thought  of  it  distresses  me." 

"  Do  not  worry  about  me.  The  expedition  could 
not  be  ready  to  start  for  at  least  a  year,  and  by  that 
time  I  may  not  need  to  go.  Sir  John  Franklin's 
ghost  may  chat  with  mine  and  tell  me  all  the  secrets 
of  the  Pole,  which  doubtless  he  discovered  when  Arc 
tic  ice  claimed  his  body." 

He  laughed,  they  shook  hands,  and  parted. 

At  a  bend  in  the  road  he  turned,  looked  back  and 
waved  his  hat  to  the  watching  figure  standing  under 
the  gilt  cross,  and  silhouetted  in  sharp  lines  against 
the  opal  dome  of  the  west. 


CHAPTER  XX 

"  Little  mother,  the  weather  is  so  lovely  I  really 
ought  to  drive  with  you  to  Dairy  Dingle,  instead  of 
letting  you  go  in  that  dusty,  stuffy  car;  but  you  will 
not  wait,  and  you  know  I  have  promised  to  go  to  the 
club  german  to-morrow  night." 

"  I  shall  get  back  in  time  to  help  you ;  the  train  is 
due  at  7:10.  Your  dress  is  already  pressed,  and  rib 
bons  and  lace  sewed  on,  but  as  you  have  not  worn  it, 
I  want  to  be  sure  about  the  hang  of  that  skirt.  Your 
sash " 

"Your  train  is  ready  to  start.    Good-bye,  Ma-Lila." 

"  Good-bye,  dearie.  I  wish  the  club  house  and  Dr. 
Burbridge  were  in  Jericho !  Then  you  could  go  with 
me." 

Mrs.  Mitchell  kissed  her  companion's  cheek  and 
hurried  to  the  car  platform,  where  she  paused  a  mo 
ment,  looking  back  at  the  girl  seated  in  her  trap, 
balancing  her  lace  parasol. 

"  Are  you  going  directly  home?  " 

"No.  I  shall  call  to  inquire  how- Mrs.  Whitfield 
is  to-day,  and  as  the  bishop  has  come  home  from 
Florida  I  must  congratulate  him  on  his  restoration 
to  health.  Bring  me  some  titi  blossoms." 

The  bell  clanged,  the  engine  puffed,  and  the  train 
disappeared  around  a  curve.  An  hour  afterward,  in 
front  of  the  post-office,  the  mail  for  Nutwood  was 
brought  to  the  trap.  Eglah  took  two  letters  ad* 


278  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

dressed  to  herself,  and  placed  the  remainder  with 
papers  under  the  cushion  of  the  trap  seat. 

"  Oliver,  stop  at  Holmein's  garden.  Then  go  on 
home  and  give  the  mail  to  father.  If  he  has  not  re 
turned  from  fishing,  be  careful  to  lay  letters  and 
papers  on  the  library  table  in  front  of  his  chair.  I 
shall  walk  from  Holmein's." 

The  grounds  of  the  florist  were  nearly  a  mile  from 
the  gates  of  Nutwood,  and  on  a  new  street-car  line 
extending  to  a  park  that  overlooked  the  river. 
From  Holmein's  the  broad,  sandy  road  ran  straight 
through  thick  woods  to  the  avenue  of  the  old  house 
on  the  hill.  Having  secured  a  bunch  of  double  white 
violets,  Judge  Kent's  favorite  flower,  his  daughter 
walked  homeward.  Ivory  thuribles  of  magnolia  and 
bay  swung  their  fragrance  up  and  down  the  nave  of 
ancient  pines,  and  the  profound  repose,  the  silence  as 
of  primeval  wilds  was  broken  only  now  and  then  by  the 
antiphonal  plaints  of  doves  lamenting  on  the  lofty 
green  pine  cornices,  or  a  low  preluding  chord,  as 
fingers  of  the  wind  touched  the  leafy  pipes  of  the  for 
est  organ. 

Many  months  had  passed,  and  the  procession  of  the 
seasons  brought  no  comforting  element  to  brighten 
the  monotonous  life  that  so  severely  taxed  Eglah's  pa 
tience.  A  card  and  dinner  party  on  Judge  Kent's 
birthday  had  pleased  him  for  the  moment,  but  while 
he  praised  the  menu  and  decorations,  no  relaxation 
of  chill  politeness  rewarded  her.  Only  one  al  fresco 
festival  was  held.  When  nuts  were  ripe  in  autumn 
the  young  mistress  had  invited  the  children  belonging 

to  Sunday-schools  and  the  orphan  asylum  in  Y 

to  come  one  afternoon  to  Nutwood  and  gather 
chestnuts  and  walnuts.  In  the  grove  long  tables  held 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  279 

refreshments,  that  were  served  by  Eglah  and  Eliza  to 
the  hungry  throng,  and  for  the  first  time  since  the 
war  hundreds  of  happy  little  ones  raced  and  shouted 
under  the  ancestral  trees.  Several  plank  seats  re 
mained  as  souvenirs  of  the  occasion,  and  to-day  Eglah 
turned  away  from  the  avenue,  and  sat  down  between 
two  young  chestnuts.  At  her  feet  was  a  miniature 
doll  house  of  walnut  shells  built  to  amuse  a  flaxen- 
haired  tot  who  shrank  tearfully  from  the  sharp  pricks 
of  chestnut  burrs,  and  begged  for  a  "truly  fairy  tale." 
Now  Eglah  was  reminded  of  the  wide,  curious  eyes 
raised  to  hers  when  she  had  repeated : 

"  I  fancy  the  fairies  make  merry, 

With  thorns  for  their  knives  and  forks; 
They  have  currants  for  bottles  of  sherry, 

And  the  little  brown  heads  are  the  corks. 
A  leaf  makes  the  tent  they  sit  under, 

Their  ballroom's  a  white  lily-cup; 
Shall  I  know  all  a^out  them,  I  wonder, 

For  certain,  when  I  am  grown  up?  " 

Laying  her  flowers  beside  her,  she  broke  the  seal  of 
a  letter  from  Mrs.  St.  Clair,  postmarked  New  York, 
and  after  a  moment  the  sheet  fell  into  her  lap.  Rais 
ing  it,  she  read  a  second  time : 

"We  are  so  shocked  and  grieved  to  find  that  Mr.  Her- 
riott  is  actually  going  on  that  North  Pole  expedition 
we  thought  he  had  abandoned.  He  has  been  much 
feted  since  his  return  last  year,  and  all  of  our  set  are 
heartily  sorry  to  give  him  up.  Some  of  us  believe 
you  could  put  a  stop  to  this  nonsense,  if  you  would 
only  come  to  your  senses,  and  use  your  influence. 
The  idea  of  such  a  man  going  into  the  grewsome  busi- 


280  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

ness  of  eating  blubber  and  seal,  and  possibly  Eskimo 
dog  steak !  Hunting  a  graveyard  among  hummocks ! 
I  suggested  to  him  that  a  better  plan  would  be  to  go 
down  into  a  cold-storage  vault,  throw  away  the  key 
and  slam  the  spring-lock  door.  Then  we  should  be 
allowed  the  consolation  of  covering  him  with  flowers." 

She  replaced  the  letter  in  the  envelope,  and  fell  into 
a  profound  revery.  If  Mr.  Herriott  sailed  away  and 
never  returned,  her  father  could  no  longer  cling  to  his 
sole  condition  of  reconciliation.  Years  ago  her  own  re 
sponsibility  had  ended,  and  even  had  she  desired  to 
reconsider  the  proposal  of  marriage,  no  opportunity 
to  do  so  had  been  given  her.  She  had  not  seen  Mr. 
Herriott  since  that  afternoon  in  the  old  Greco-Roman 
theatre.  Two  kind,  brief,  merely  friendly  letters  had 
reached  her,  followed  by  a  box  containing  for  herself 
some  fine  Oriental  embroideries,  and  an  exquisitely 
carved  ivory  triptych;  for  Mrs.  Mitchell  a  copy  of 
a  quaint  circular  picture  in  the  old  Byzantine  style, 
representing  a  group  of  young  lambs  asleep  around 
the  standing  figure  of  the  child  Jesus,  whose  body 
rayed  light,  as  in  the  "  Notte"  one  little  hand  ex 
tended  over  them,  while  he  looked  up  to  an  angelic 
guard  only  dimly  outlined  by  the  gleaming  tips  of 
hovering  pinions. 

If  Mr.  Herriott  never  returned?  Her  eyes  filled 
with  unshed  tears.  For  so  many  years  he  had  been  her 
devoted  and  loyal  friend,  and  she  honored  and  trusted 
him  supremely.  Never  to  see  him  again  would  grieve 
her  deeply,  but  she  felt  assured  he  no  longer  loved  her 
as  formerly — that  sincere  friendship  was  the  only 
sentiment  he  now  entertained.  Were  his  heart  still 
hers,  could  he  have  maintained  the  total  repression 
that  marked  recent  years?  He  had  given  his  word 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  281 

not  to  refer  to  a  matter  that  distressed  her,  but  when 
men  really  loved,  such  compacts  were  forgotten,  and 
it  must  have  been  easy  for  Mr.  Herriott  to  keep  his 
promise  of  absolute  silence. 

Gathering  up  her  flowers,  letters  and  parasol,  she 
walked  slowly  across  the  lawn  and  reached  the  house 
by  a  side  door,  without  meeting  any  of  the  servants. 

On  the  library  table  lay  Judge  Kent's  unopened 
mail ;  hence  she  knew  he  had  not  yet  returned  from 
the  fishing  trip  on  which  he  started  at  daylight.  Over 
the  door  opening  into  his  adjoining  bedroom  a  heavy 
portiere  of  crimson  plush  usually  hung,  but  a  few 
days  previous  winter  draperies  had  been  replaced  by 
Madras  curtains  that  resembled  stained  glass.  Lift 
ing  this  summer  portiere,  Eglah  went  into  the  bed 
room,  filled  a  vase  with  water  and  arranged  the 
drooping  violets  on  her  father's  bureau.  Only  during 
his  absence  did  she  ever  come  into  this  apartment, 
so  long  her  grandmother's  reliquary,  where  the  girl 
seemed  always  to  see  old  Hector  crouching  against 
his  dead  mistress,  and  that  white  face,  whose  fixed 
blue  eyes  pierced  beyond  the  orange  dawn  and 
fronted  God. 

The  memory  of  her  childish  terror  on  the  night  of 
Mrs.  Maurice's  death  haunted  the  room,  despite  her 
effort  to  dispel  it,  yet  to-day  she  sat  down  on  a  lounge 
and  re-read  Mrs.  St.  Clair's  letter.  If  her  father  knew 
of  the  contemplated  Arctic  journey,  he  had  given  no 
hint.  Perhaps  the  vessel  had  already  sailed.  Then 
at  last  she  could  find  peace  and  reconciliation.  Possi 
bly  Mr.  Herriott  might  change  his  plans.  If  ever 
he  renewed  his  offer  would  she — could  she  yield  to 
her  father's  wishes?  She  set  her  teeth. 

"  Sell  myself — even  for  father's  love  ?    Never !  " 


282  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

It  seemed  cruel  that  some  misfortune  to  her  best 
and  dearest  friend  should  offer  her  sole  channel  of 
escape,  and  after  a  while  she  made  deliberate  choice. 

"  Come  what  may,  I  pray  no  harm  will  overtake 
Mr.  Noel.  I  would  rather  continue  to  fight  and  suffer 
than  know  he  was  lost;  and  surely  God  will  watch 
over  him." 

Some  moments  passed  while,  forgetting  to  remove 
her  hat,  she  sat  tapping  her  knee  with  the  letter. 
Then  heavy  footsteps  rang  on  the  bare,  "  dry- 
rubbed  "  floor,  and  Judge  Kent's  voice  sounded 
through  the  library. 

'  Take  that  arm  chair,  Herriott.  Eglah  is  in  town, 
but  she  will  be  at  home  soon." 

"  I  am  glad  to  have  an  opportunity  to  talk  to  you 
in  her  absence.  I  have  not  come  here  voluntarily; 
necessity  drove  me.  My  mission  now  is  so  distress 
ingly  painful  that  could  it  have  been  avoided  I  should 
certainly  not  be  here.  To  shield  Eglah  from  annoy 
ance  I  would  undertake  anything  but  neglect  of  duty. 
Of  course  you  know  the  deplorable  matter  to  which  I 
allude?" 

Every  word  came  distinctly  through  the  lace-hung 
doorway,  and  Eglah  rose,  reluctant  to  overhear  that 
which  it  was  evident  the  speaker  wished  withheld 
from  her;  but  an  overmastering  desire  to  understand 
once  for  all  conditions  that  had  so  long  perplexed  her, 
coerced  her  to  remain.  There  was  grave  trouble,  and 
she  must  suffer  later — why  not  now  ?  A  full  compre 
hension  was  the  first  step  toward  defence. 

"  I  am  surprised  that  you  should  intentionally  em 
barrass  me,  but  I  suppose  you  refer  to  the  United 
States  and  railroad  bonds  that  were  hypothecated. 
I  knew  you  had  redeemed  them,  delivered  them  to  the 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  283 

college,  and  I  hoped  when  I  parted  with  the  house  in 
Thirty-eighth  Street  that  I  could  turn  it  over  to  you 
in  part  payment  of  that  bond  business;  but  an  un 
fortunate  venture  reduced  me  to  such  urgent  need,  I 
was  obliged  to  take  the  money  you  offered  through 
Trainem.  Don't  interrupt  me — now  you  have  forced 
me  to  speak,  I  want  no  renewal  of  this  matter.  Ex 
cept  the  trustees  and  their  attorneys,  no  one  remem 
bers  the  unjust  clause  in  your  father's  will  that  Nina 
should  have  the  New  York  house  and  certain  stocks 
outright,  but  only  the  interest  on  those  bonds  which 
at  her  death  should  belong  to  the  Presbyterian  Col 
lege.  Munificent  provision  for  the  widow  of  a  reputed 
multimillionaire !  Since  you  have  so  kindly  and  gen 
erously  recovered  the  bonds  and  delivered  them  to 
the  trustees,  I  see  no  necessity  for  this  revival  of  so 
disagreeable  a  subject,  and  certainly  no  propriety  in 
dragging  before  Eglah  what  does  not  concern  her. 
The  trusteeship  under  which  her  own  estate  is  held 
at  present,  prevents  my  using  any  part  of  it  to  repay 
you,  as  I  would  do  most  gladly,  were  it  possible." 

"Had  you  not  forbidden  an  interruption,  you 
might  have  spared  yourself  an  unpleasant  retrospec 
tion,  as  I  earnestly  desired  to  assure  you  at  the  outset 
that  you  are  entirely  mistaken  in  my  purpose.  I  had 
no  thought — no  intention,  of  alluding  to  the  subject 
of  the  bonds,  which  is  even  more  disagreeable  to  me 
than  to  you,  but  since  you  have  brought  it  up,  while 
I  decline  to  discuss  my  father's  will,  you  must  permit 
me  to  say  that  the  course  I  pursued  was  prompted 
solely  by  my  affection  for  Nina,  and  a  desire  to  protect 
her  innocent  name.  Hence  as  regards  the  bonds  you 
owe  me  nothing." 


284  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

"  Do  you  doubt  they  were  hypothecated  with  her 
consent  and  desire?  " 

'''  Judge  Kent,  you  must  pardon  me  if  I  ask  you  to 
dismiss  issues  long  past.  I  am  here  for  a  far  graver  and 
more  imperatively  pressing  matter.  It  seems  hard 
indeed  that  I,  who  have  accepted  and  enjoyed  your 
hospitality — I,  who  for  many  years  have  known  that 
my  heart  dwelt  upon  your  roof — should  be  the  unfor 
tunate  agent  forced  to  bring  grief  and  trouble  to  your 
hearth.  I  suppose  you  suspect  to  what  I  refer?  " 

"  No.  I  have  so  many  enemies,  and  such  an  infer 
nal  succession  of  bad  luck,  I  never  know  where  a 
bomb  may  burst.  I  haven't  an  idea  what  you  are 
driving  at." 

Mr.  Herriott  walked  twice  across  the  floor. 

"  Do  you  recollect  Edward  Hunt?  " 

"  Yes.  A  cross  between  a  fox  and  a  blood 
hound.  He  was  a  cousin  of  yours.  I  gave  hearty 
thanks  when  I  heard  he  was  dead." 

"  Allow  me  to  correct  you ;  he  married  a  cousin 
of  my  mother's.  Of  course  you  recall  his  connection 
with  the  syndicate  that  secured  congressional  grant 
of  lands  in  the  West,  which  subsequently  proved  so 
valuable.  You  were  a  member  of  the  Senate  com 
mittee  that  reported  favorably,  and  doubtless  you 
recollect  all  that  passed  between  you  and  Hunt  at  that 
time." 

"  Good  God !  When  the  grave  closed  over  him,  I 
thought  that  syndicate  business  was  screwed  down 
in  his  coffin." 

"  Judge  Kent,  I  would  give  my  right  arm  if  it  could 
be  shut  in  there.  Do  you  recall  a  time  in  Washing 
ton,  the  night  of  Secretary  P 's  dinner,  from  which 

I  carried  Eglah  to  a  cotillon?  Early  in  the  evening 


A  SPECKLED  BIRD  285 

you  received  an  anonymous  warning  that  the  per 
sonality  of  '  Ely  Twiggs  '  had  been  discovered.  Ac 
cidentally  the  truth  came  into  my  possession.  I  sent 
it,  that  you  might  prepare  any  defence  you  deemed 
advisable — and  I  was  unwilling  you  should  suspect 
I  knew  the  facts.  The  cashier  of  that  western  Pent- 
land  Bank  was  Duncan  Keith,  whom  I  knew  when 
I  was  a  boy,  and  when  the  bank  failed,  he  and  the 
bookkeeper  disappeared,  after  destroying  the  books; 
at  least  the  president  and  teller  so  stated  at  the  ex 
amination  held  by  directors  and  stockholders.  Ed 
ward  Hunt  was  a  director,  and  defended  Keith.  He 
always  contended  that  the  president  and  teller  had 
conspired  to  throw  the  guilt  on  an  innocent  man. 
Leaving  his  son  with  the  boy's  grandmother  in  Ohio, 
Keith  fled,  and  was  reported  somewhere  in  South 
America.  One  night  in  Geneva,  where  I  went  to  at 
tend  a  scientific  congress,  a  blurred  sheet  was  brought 
to  me  at  the  hotel. 

"  '  Your  old  friend  Duncan  Keith  is  dying.  I  am  an 
innocent  victim.  Come  and  take  my  message  to  my 
boy  in  Ohio/ 

"  The  shoemaker  who  brought  the  note  piloted  me 
to  his  shop,  where  in  an  attic  room  I  found  poor  Keith. 
He  was  sinking  fast,  but  begged  me  to  do  him  the 
only  favor  this  world  held.  He  insisted  I  should 
watch  over  his  son,  whose  grandmother  had  recently 
died,  and  the  boy  had  now  no  relations  but  an  aunt, 
a  sister  of  Keith's  wife.  With  his  last  sobbing  breath 
he  swore  to  me  he  was  innocent.  He  declared  the 
charge  of  embezzlement  was  untrue;  that  his  in 
dividual  account  was  short  only  eight  hundred  dol 
lars,  overdrawn  with  the  knowledge  and  consent  of 
president  and  teller,  who  denied  their  sanction  when 


286  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

the  crash  came,  and  charged  him  with  theft  and  for 
geries  he  had  never  committed.  As  security  for  the 
money  borrowed,  he  had  given  a  mortgage  on  a  small 
piece  of  land,  but  to  avoid  mortgage  tax  it  had  not  been 
recorded,  and  could  not  be  found.  Fear  of  prosecu 
tion  and  inability  to  establish  his  innocence  against 
the  united  persecution  of  bank  officials  had  driven 
him  from  the  country.  Part  of  the  records  he  pre 
served  and  carried  away,  but  he  needed  an  important 
link,  the  stubs  of  a  certain  check  book,  and  some 
bank  drafts  returned  from  London.  His  health  failed 
fast,  and  confined  to  his  room,  he  had  abandoned  all 
hope,  when  one  day  he  received  a  package  addressed 
in  Edward  Hunt's  handwriting.  It  contained  not 
only  the  stubs,  but  checks  and  two  receipts  establish 
ing  beyond  doubt  the  guilt  of  the  president,  teller, 
and  two  other  persons.  Poor  Keith !  On  his  narrow 
bed  he  had  a  tin  box  under  his  elbow,  and  he  laid 
the  key  on  my  knee. 

"  '  Noel,  I  am  honest  as  you  are,  and  I  want  you 
to  help  my  boy  clear  my  name.  All  the  proof  is  in 
this  box.  Will  you  keep  it  safe  until  Duncan  is 
twenty-one,  and  then  give  it  to  him,  and  explain  my 
enclosed  letter  of  instructions?  I  tried  to  write  my 
wishes  to  you,  and  that  letter  also  is  in  the  box.  If 
I  had  not  heard  you  were  here,  I  should  have  asked 
our  consul  to  send  the  box  to  you.  Noel,  will  you 
help  my  son?  I  don't  ask  you  to  prosecute,  or  take 
any  part;  I  only  beg  you  to  guard  these  proofs  till 
he  is  of  age.  Will  you  promise  me  now,  in  God's 
sight,  to  keep  these  papers  safe,  and  put  them  into 
no  hand  but  Duncan's?  ' 

"  I  took  the  box  and  put  my  hand  on  his,  already 
cold  and  damp  in  death. 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  287 

"  *  So  help  me  God,  I  will  guard  the  papers,  and  give 
them  only  into  Duncan's  own  hand.' 

"  I  sat  with  him  until  the  end.  Five  hours  later,  at 
two  o'clock,  he  died.  Only  God  knows  how  bitterly 
and  ceaselessly  I  have  rued  that  rash  promise  now 
goading  me  to  a  step  I  would  almost  rather  die  than 
take.  When  I  accepted  the  trust,  I  knew  absolutely 
nothing  of  your  connection  with  that  bank,  or  of  the 
transactions  by  which  you  came  into  possession  of 
stock  and  shares  in  the  land  company  and  bank,  all 
standing  in  the  name  of  '  Ely  Twiggs/  the  dividends 
of  which  were  always  sent  direct  to  London,  and  re 
ceipted  for  by  (  Ely  Twiggs's  '  agent,  who  reported 
him  travelling  in  Egypt.  '  Ely  Twiggs/  as  far  as  my 
information  went,  was  associated  solely  with  the  syndi- 
cate'swork  in  Congress.  I  made  no  examination  of  the 
proofs  until  very  recently,  because  the  appointed  time 
had  not  arrived,  and  since  I  looked  into  that  box 
I  have  not  had  one  moment's  peace.  The  array  of 
evidence,  strengthened  by  two  of  your  own  letters, 
rests  the  culpability  on  the  president,  the  teller,  Mars- 
den  and  yourself.  You  must  know  how  it  pains  me 
to  lay  this  matter  before  you,  but  it  is  necessary  you 
should  understand  the  facts." 

His  voice  wavered,  and  again  he  walked  the  length 
of  the  room. 

A  deep,  quivering  groan  came  from  the  depths  of 
Judge  Kent's  chair,  and  leaning  across  the  library 
table  he  poured  out  and  swallowed  a  glass  of  brandy. 

"  The  imminence  of  this  misfortune  is  what  appalls 
me.  Duncan  Keith  will  be  twenty-one  years  old  in 
less  than  a  month,  and  as  I  sail  so  soon  with  the  expe 
dition,  I  am  now  on  my  way  to  place  the  box  in  his 
hands  and  explain  his  father's  wishes.  I  may  never 


288  A   SPECKLED  BIRD 

come  back,  and  I  must  execute  my  trust  now,  es 
pecially  as  the  poor  fellow  is  not  in  good  health." 

"  My  God !  You  can't  mean  to  tell  me  you  intend 
to  arm  him  and  my  enemies  with  documents  that  will 
disgrace  me?  " 

"  Not  if  it  were  possible  to  avoid  it  without  break 
ing  my  oath.  I  have  pondered,  I  have  passed  sleep 
less  nights  trying  to  devise  some  method  of  shielding 
you;  but  unless  I  lie  to  a  dead  man  who  trusted  me, 
I  am  compelled  to  deliver  the  box." 

"  Noel,  for  God's  sake  be  reasonable !  Don't  sacri 
fice  me  to  maudlin  sentimentality.  You  pretend  to 
love  my  innocent  child,  and  yet  pursue  a  course  you 
know  will  break  her  heart,  as  well  as  mine?  " 

"  Judge  Kent,  for  her  sake  I  would  do  anything — 
save  dishonor  myself." 

"  Then  you  have  ceased  to  love  her !  " 

"  No ;  I  love  her,  and  I  always  shall,  until  she  is 
some  other  man's  wife.  I  gave  her  my  whole  heart 
when  she  was  a  mere  child,  and  she  is  still  the  one 
woman  in  all  the  world  who  holds  it  in  her  dear  little 
hands.  To  shield  her  from  this  terrible  sorrow,  I 
have  thought  you  might  go  abroad  at  once,  and  keep 
American  papers  out  of  her  reach  for  a  while.  Dun 
can  will  probably  move  promptly  in  exonerating  his 
father's  name;  there  will  be,  of  course,  a  nine  days' 
sensation,  then  matters  will  settle;  a  later  stratum  of 
news  will  press  it  out  of  sight,  and  Eglah  need  never 
know." 

"  Could  not  the  boy  be  influenced  to  sell  the  papers 
and  drop  it?  " 

"  Certainly  not  by  me.  Do  you  think  it  possible 
I  could  insult  the  dead  by  helping  to  undo  what  I 
swore  to  aid  his  son  in  accomplishing?  " 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  289 

"  But  you  swore  in  ignorance  of  facts  learned 
since." 

"  No,  only  in  ignorance  of  the  personality  of  some 
who  contributed  to  Keith's  ruin.  I  am  the  most  un 
happy  poor  devil  on  earth,  but  no  honorable  alterna 
tive  is  allowed  me,  and  to-night  I  go  on  to  Duncan 
and  deliver  the  box.  I  must  meet  the  vessel  which 
touches  at  Sydney,  Cape  Breton,  on  the  I5th,  and  I 
have  no  time  to  spare.  I  shall  come  back  this  after 
noon  to  see  Eglah  and  say  good-bye,  and  I  can  only 
hope  that  after  calm  consideration  of  all  the  circum 
stances  embarrassing  me,  you  will  not  censure  me  for 
a  deplorable  course  of  action  which  my  sense  of  honor 
makes  absolutely  imperative." 

Judge  Kent  sat  facing  the  Madras  drapery  towards 
which  Mr.  Herriott's  back  was  turned,  and  at  this 
moment  a  glass  door  leading  to  the  colonnade 
opened;  the  draught  of  air  blew  the  curtain  into  the 
library,  and  the  Judge  saw  his  daughter  slip  quickly 
from  his  bedroom.  With  a  vague  hope  of  gaining 
time,  he  said  unsteadily: 

"  I  am  so  stunned,  I  am  not  myself.  That  you 
should  sweep  me  and  mine  to  destruction  seems  in 
credible;  but,  nevertheless,  will  you  stay  and  dine?" 

"  No,  thank  you,  Judge  Kent.  It  would  be  pain 
ful  for  both  of  us.  Later,  I  must  see  Eglah  once 
more." 

In  crucial  hours,  when  some  crisis  wrecks  plans, 
landmarks,  life-long  aims,  the  brain  works  with 
preternatural  clearness  and  celerity.  Through  the 
torturing  ordeal  of  that  half  hour  Eglah  had  lis 
tened,  numb  with  shame  and  horror.  The  world 
seemed  to  have  dissolved  in  a  night  that  could  know 

19 


290  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

no  dawn;  yet,  groping  in  this  chaos,  two  desperate 
resolves  nerved  her. 

She  would  secure  that  box  of  papers,  no  matter  at 
what  cost.  Her  father  should  be  saved  from  dis 
grace,  and  he  should  never  suspect  she  knew  his  guilt. 
She  must  see  Mr.  Herriott  before  she  saw  her  father. 
Swiftly  she  matured  her  resolution;  then  an  unusual 
glitter  came  into  her  lovely  soft  eyes,  and  she  sat 
down  between  the  chestnut  trees  and  waited. 

At  a  quick  stride,  Mr.  Herriott  descended  the 
avenue  until  nearly  opposite  the  seat,  and  she  rose 
and  walked  toward  him. 

Their  hands  met  in  a  tight,  clinging  clasp,  but  for 
an  instant  neither  spoke.  He  noted  that  the  blood 
had  ebbed  from  her  lips,  and  that  she  was  frightfully 
pale,  but  the  eyes  lifted  to  his  glowed  unnaturally. 

"  I  intended  coming  back  later,  to  spend  an  hour 
with  you  and  say  good-bye,  as " 

"  Never  to  say  good-bye  again !  You  shall  not  leave 
me." 

She  drew  him  down  to  the  seat  beside  her,  and  he 
smiled  at  the  imperious  tone,  so  suggestive  of  her 
childish  days. 

"  You  do  not  understand  conditions,  unless — 
When  did  you  see  your  father?  " 

"  Not  since  last  night.  He  went  fishing  at  day 
light." 

"  Then  you  do  not  know  that  I  came  to  bid  you 
farewell  before  sailing  for  the  Arctic  circle  ?  " 

"  Yes.  I  have  not  seen  father  to-day,  but  this  letter 
from  Mrs.  St.  Clair  arrived  by  the  morning  mail.  Mr. 
Herriott,  I  am  the  most  miserable  woman  God  ever 
made,  and  I  want  to  turn  to  you  now,  but  I  scarcely 
know  just  how  to  do  so.  Once — that  night  in  Wash- 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  291 

ington — you  said  you  would  never  change,  that  you 
would  always  love  me;  but  I  have  no  right  to  expect 
after  years  of  absence — "  She  paused  and  the  frozen 
face  crimsoned. 

He  caught  his  breath  and  leaned  toward  her. 

"  I  love  you  now  as  I  loved  you  then.  My  heart 
has  always  belonged  to  you.  If  you  doubt  it,  you 
wrong  me." 

"  Then,  Mr.  Noel,  do  not  leave  me.  If  you  go 
away  now  you  will  break  my  heart." 

He  rose  and  looked  down  at  her,  wondering  at  the 
desperate  appeal  in  her  eyes. 

"  I  do  not  understand,  because  I  long  ago  ceased  to 
hope  I  could  ever  be  essential  to  your  happiness.  I 
am  obliged  to  leave  here  to-night ;  but  if  there  is  any 
service  I  can  render  before  I  sail  from  Sydney,  on  the 
1 5th,  I  am  sure  you  know  how  very  gladly  I  should 
help  you.  If,  as  you  say,  you  wish  to  turn  to  me,  I 
beg  that  you  will  do  so  at  once.  Why  are  you  miser 
able?" 

She  covered  her  face  with  her  hands. 

"  If  you  love  me,  will  you  abandon  this  expedition 
for  my  sake?  " 

"  I  cannot  now,  it  is  too  late.  My  word  is  pledged 
by  cable,  and  the  vessel  is  on  the  Atlantic.  Eglah,  I 
dare  not  hope  that  you  have  learned  to  care;  I  will 
not  delude  myself.  Don't  torture  me  by  vague  sug 
gestions  that  half  madden  me." 

He  sat  down  beside  her,  painfully  perplexed. 

Her  hands  fell  into  her  lap,  clutched  each  other, 
and  when  she  spoke  it  was  in  a  shuddering,  broken 
whisper. 

"  Then,  if  you  must  go,  take  me  with  you  till  you 
sail.  We  can  be  married  to-night." 


292  A   SPECKLED  BIRD 

For  fully  a  moment  his  eyes,  amazed,  incredulous, 
searched  hers;  then  he  surrendered  himself  to  a 
measureless  exultation. 

"  My  darling — my  own  proud  darling !  " 

He  drew  her  close,  and  she  felt  him  tremble  as  she 
hid  her  face  against  his  shoulder — felt  his  lips  on  her 
neck,  on  her  bare,  quivering  hand  that  he  held 
pressed  to  his  cheek. 

"  I  know  it  is  selfish  to  permit  you  to  bind  yourself 
to  me  on  the  eve  of  a  perilous  journey  from  which  I 
may  not  return,  but  after  so  many  long,  hopeless 
years  the  temptation  is  more  than  I  can  resist.  I  can 
have  you,  my  darling,  for  only  a  few  short  days,  but 
the  happiness  of  a  lifetime  shall  glorify  them.  To 
night  I  must  go  to  Ohio,  to  close  up  some  business 
with  my  ward,  Duncan  Keith;  then  on  to  Grey- 
ledge  for  two  days  before  starting  for  Cape  Breton. 
Why  did  you  not  give  me  this  precious  intimation 
earlier?  You  have  always  known  what  you  are  to 
me.  Was  it  the  news  in  Mrs.  St.  Clair's  letter  re 
garding  my  departure  that  pleaded  for  me  in  your 
proud,  stubborn  heart?" 

"  I  never  realized  until  to-day  how  much  I  need 
you.  Mr.  Noel,  this  has  come  upon  me  so  suddenly 
I  am  stunned.  Give  me  a  little  time — till  my  mind 
clears.  Let  us  see  father  at  once;  there  are  so  many 
things  to  be  arranged  if — if " 

He  bent  to  kiss  her,  but  with  one  shaking  hand  she 
softly  turned  his  face  aside. 

"  Not  yet,  please — while  I  am  Eglah  Kent." 

Her  arms  stole  up  around  his  neck  and  her  strained 
voice  broke. 

"  I  am  so  unhappy;  I  seem  to  be  in  a  horrible, 
strangling  dream.  Be  patient  with  me.  You  are  the 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  293 

only  one  in  all  the  world  who  can  comfort  me,  and  I 
am  looking  to  you  now  as — I  once  looked  to  God." 

Holding  her  in  a  close  clasp,  he  felt  her  quivering 
from  head  to  foot. 

"  Sweetheart,  don't  tremble  so.  Trust  me,  darling, 
and  love  me,  and  no  home  in  the  wide  universe  will 
be  so  happy  and  blessed  as  ours.  Ours !  The  word 
holds  heaven.  Are  you  cold,  that  you  shiver  so  con 
stantly?  Come  into  the  sunshine." 

Pacing  up  and  down  the  colonnade,  Judge  Kent 
watched  them  approaching.  He  looked  worn, 
hunted,  and  a  sickly  pallor  marked  his  usually  florid 
face.  Before  Mr.  Herriott  could  speak,  he  was 
startled  by  a  strange  hysterical  sound  from  Eglah; 
not  a  cry,  not  a  sob.  As  she  looked  at  her  father,  her 
face  lighted  with  a  marvellous,  yearning  tenderness, 
and  she  sprang  into  his  extended  arms. 

"  Father,  you  will  love  me  now !  Kiss  me,  kiss  me. 
Hold  me  tight — take  me  back  to  my  place  in  your 
heart." 

Only  he  could  hear  the  low  ripple  of  broken  words, 
and  his  tears  dripped  on  her  face  as  he  pressed  his 
lips  to  hers. 

"  Herriott,  what  does  it  all  mean?  " 

"  That  I  am  the  happiest,  proudest  man  on  earth. 
Coming  here  to  say  good-bye  to  my  sweetheart,  I 
shall  carry  my  wife  away  with  me." 

"  But  she  cannot  go  to  the  North  Pole,  and — you 
may  not  survive  the  dangers." 

"  When  I  know  she  is  waiting  at  home  for  me,  do 
you  suppose  all  the  ice  in  Greenland  could  shut  me 
away  from  her?  " 

"  God  bless  my  daughter !  How  shall  I  live  with 
out  her?" 


294  A   SPECKLED  BIRD 

"  We  are  never  to  be  separated.  Mr.  Herriott 
could  not  wish  anything  so  cruel." 

She  rose  on  tiptoe,  put  a  hand  on  each  wet  cheek, 
and  kissed  her  father  twice. 

Mr.  Herriott  looked  at  his  watch. 

"  Eglah  has  consented  to  be  married  to-night,  and 
my  train  leaves  at  eleven.  There  are  several  im 
portant  matters  to  be  arranged,  and  I  should  be  glad 
to  know  her  wishes." 

She  rang  the  bell,  then  stepped  to  his  side  and 
slipped  her  hand  in  his. 

"  Father's  rector  is  absent,  and  I  wish  Bishop 
Vivian  to  perform  the  ceremony;  he  loved  my  grand 
mother,  and  she  loved  him." 

Aaron  appeared  at  the  door. 

"  Tell  Oliver  to  bring  the  trap  around  as  soon  as 
he  can.  Father,  you  must  go  in  with  Mr.  Herriott. 
Mrs.  Whitfield  is  sick,  but  I  want  Mr.  Whitfield  and 
Lucy  and  Dr.  Eggleston  and  his  wife  to  be  here.  If 
you  wish  any  others,  invite  them.  Mr.  Noel,  what 
hour?" 

"  I  suggest  not  later  than  nine." 

"  My  dear  Ma-Lila  will  never  forgive  me.  She  is 
away." 

"Where?     Could  not  a  telegram  reach  her?" 

"  No,  she  is  in  the  country,  two  miles  from  a  sta 
tion.  She  left  me  only  this  morning,  and  will  be  so 
grieved." 

"  How  far  away?" 

"  Fifteen  miles  by  carriage  road,  twenty  by  rail. 
There  is  the  trap.     Father,  I  am  going  upstairs  now; 
and,  if  you  please,  I  want  to  be  alone  till — till — till— 
One  hand  clutched  her  throat,  and  she  looked  appeal- 
ingly  into  Mr.  Herriott's  eyes. 


A  SPECKLED  BIRD  295 

He  smiled,  stooped,  and  pressed  to  his  lips  the 
slender  ringers  he  held. 

"  Set  your  mind  at  rest  about  Mrs.  Mitchell.  She 
shall  be  here,  if  I  have  to  send  a  special  for  her." 

When  explanation  and  instructions  had  been  given 
to  Aaron  and  Minerva,  Eglah  went  upstairs  and 
locked  herself  in  the  room  to  which  had  been  removed 
the  furniture  and  portraits  Mrs.  Maurice  held  sacred. 
Up  and  down  she  walked,  feeling  that  an  iron  band 
was  throttling  her.  She  and  her  father  were  drifting 
out  to  a  black  gulf  of  humiliation — of  hopeless  dis 
grace — and  only  that  box  of  papers  could  rescue, 
anchor  them  in  safety.  Mr.  Herriott  loved  her  so 
devotedly,  she  believed  that  when  she  was  his  wife 
he  would  yield  the  papers  in  answer  to  her  prayers. 
If  he  refused?  She  recalled  the  ring  of  indignation 
in  his  voice  when  her  father  suggested  bribing  Duncan 
Keith.  Marriage  would  give  her  immediate  control 
of  her  estate,  and  surely  her  fortune  could  purchase 
the  papers  from  the  boy,  when  in  her  presence  Mr. 
Herriott  delivered  them  to  him.  If  all  efforts  failed, 
she  would  go  down  to  ruin  knowing  she  had  left 
nothing  undone  to  save  her  father,  and  now,  at  last, 
she  had  regained  her  place  in  his  heart. 

The  price?  Her  face  burned,  and  she  wrung  her 
hands.  After  to-night's  ceremony,  could  she  ever 
again  respect  herself?  When  Mr.  Herriott  knew, 
would  he  despise  her?  Family  portraits  on  the  wall 
caught  her  glance.  Did  the  stainless  Maurices,  and 
her  own  young  mother,  watching  from  the  Celestial 
City,  see  all  the  burden  of  shame  settling  down  on  her 
shoulders?  Would  her  grandmother's  cold,  proud 
blue  eyes  look  "  I  told  you  so,"  or  soften  in  tender 
pity  for  "  poor  Marcia's  baby  "  ?  Public  disgrace 


296  A   SPECKLED  BIRD 

over  which  so  many  would  gloat,  to  escape  such  in 
famy  was  any  price  too  dear?     The  price — herself? 

Three  hours  later  she  saw  her  trunk  carried  down 
stairs.  When  the  clock  struck  eight,  she  was  dressed 
for  her  wedding.  The  gown  ordered  for  the  club 
german  was  a  trailing,  ivory  cr£pe  de  Chine,  and 
where  lace  ruffles  met  on  the  corsage  she  fastened  a 
spray  of  white  lilac  from  the  bouquet  Mr.  Herriott 
had  sent.  No  gleam  of  jewels  marred  the  white  per 
fection  of  face  and  figure,  but  her  dilated  eyes  burned 
like  brown  agates  when  the  light  smites  them.  On 
the  dressing-table  lay  a  note  for  Mrs.  Mitchell. 

"  My  dear,  sweet  little  mother :  The  crucial  hour 
came,  and  you  were  away.  I  may  have  scuttled  ship, 
but  I  did  what  seemed  best.  Some  things  you  cannot 
understand  now,  but  I  know  you  love  me  too  well  to 
distress  me  with  questions — when  I  c.sk  you  to  trust 
me.  Pray  for  your 

"  BABY." 

As  the  clock  struck  half-past  eight,  Eliza  ran  up 
the  steps  and  into  the  room,  holding  against  her 
shoulder  a  branch  of  titi  pearled  with  bloom.  At  sight 
of  the  extraordinary  loveliness  of  the  figure  standing 
as  if  frozen,  she  burst  into  tears. 

"  My  beautiful — my  baby !  What  does  all  this 
mean  ?  Your  father  has  forced  you  to " 

"  Hush,  hush.  My  father  was  as  much  astonished 
as  you  are.  I  feared  you  could  not  come  in  time, 
and  here  is  a  note,  in  which  I  said  all  that  I  can  tell 
you.  Don't  scold  me,  and  don't  cry;  wait  till  I  am 
gone." 

She  gave  her  the  note  and  kissed  her  cheek,  where 
tears  were  streaming. 


A  SPECKLED  BIRD  297 

"  Oh,  my  baby,  give  me  the  positive  assurance  that 
this  step  is  voluntary — that  you  love  Mr.  Herriott." 

"  Entirely  voluntary.  My  supreme  wish  is  to  go 
with  Mr.  Herriott.  He  is  the  noblest  man  in  all  the 
world." 

"  Yes,  but  you  have  not  just  found  that  out;  you 
have  always  known  it.  Now,  do  you  love  him?  I 
am  afraid  you  do  not;  and,  my  baby,  marriage  with 
out  loving  a  husband  is " 

Eglah  laid  a  hand  over  Eliza's  lips. 

"  Father  is  coming  for  me.  I  want  to  wear  some 
titi,  because  you  brought  it  to  me.  Pin  two  clusters 
under  the  folds  of  lace  here,  just  over  your  baby's 
heart.  Now,  kiss  Eglah  Kent  good-bye,  and  leave  me 
with  father  while  you  take  off  your  hat  and  dry  your 
eyes." 

"  My  dear,  are  you  ready?  " 

"  Wait  a  few  minutes  for  Ma-Lila.  Father,  if  I  can 
not  persuade  Mr.  Noel  to  abandon  his  journey,  you 
must  be  sure  to  meet  me  when  he  telegraphs  you  and 
leaves  me.  I  am  inexpressibly  unhappy,  but  if  you 
will  forget  the  last  three  years,  and  love  me  as  in  the 
dear  old  days,  it  will  comfort  and  gladden  me." 

The  clock  chimed  nine.  Near  the  foot  of  the  stair 
way  Mr.  Herriott  waited,  and  when  he  came  forward 
the  almost  unearthly  beauty  of  Eglah's  face  made  his 
heart  throb  with  vague  apprehension.  It  wore  a  rapt 
expression  of  supreme  exaltation,  as  if  a  somnam 
bulist  walked  with  eyes  fixed  on  some  goal  beyond 
a  yawning  black  chasm. 

Drawing  her  arm  from  her  father's,  she  stepped  to 
Mr.  Herriott's  side  and  laid  her  hand  in  his. 


CHAPTER   XXI 

The  fast  vestibuled  train,  forty  minutes  late,  swung 
northward  at  a  speed  that  kept  the  car  in  a  quiver. 
There  were  few  passengers,  asleep  in  their  berths, 
and  Mr.  Herriott  had  secured  the  drawing-room. 
It  was  new,  luxurious  in  appointments,  and  to  the 
end  of  the  brass  rod  supporting  the  lamp  in  the  centre 
he  had  fastened  a  great  sheaf  of  white  carnations, 
sent  by  Mrs.  Whitfield.  Closing  the  sliding  door 
that  opened  into  the  sleeper,  he  sat  down  beside  the 
figure  clad  in  a  dark-blue  cloth  suit. 

"  I  am  so  insanely  happy  I  dare  not  pinch  or  shake 
myself,  lest  I  should  wake  and  find  it  only  a  heavenly 
dream." 

He  took  one  of  her  remarkably  beautiful  hands, 
which  he  had  always  admired,  and  where  he  had 
placed  a  broad,  heavy  band  of  gold  four  hours  before. 
Spreading  the  cold  fingers  on  his  warm  palm,  he 
lifted  them  against  his  cheek,  brushed  them  with  his 
mustache. 

"  Lovely  little  snowflakes ;  how  long  I  have  coveted 
their  touch!  And  now  they  are  absolutely  my  very 
own.  Mine  forever." 

She  had  been  leaning  back,  but  straightened, 
braced  herself,  and  her  breathing  was  deep  and  rapid. 

"  Mr.  Noel,  do  you  really  love  me  above  everything 
else?  " 

He  laughed  so  heartily  that  she  saw  the  glitter  of 
his  fine  teeth. 


A  SPECKLED  BIRD  299 

"  Do  I  love  you  above  everything  else  ?  You  elu 
sive  witch!  If  you  will  withdraw  the  embargo  of 
your  request — '  not  yet,  please  ' — I  can  soon  convince 
you." 

His  handsome  face,  radiantly  happy,  bent  close  to 
hers,  but  she  shrank  away  from  him. 

"  I  am  your  wife  now,  but " 

She  paused,  with  a  strained  look  in  her  eyes. 

"  Yes;  my  own  precious  wife  at  last,  thank  God!  " 

"  There  is  one,  only  one  proof  that  will  convince 
me  I  am  really  first  in  your  heart.  Give  me  at  once 
the  box  of  papers  that  incriminate  my  father." 

He  dropped  her  hand  and  rose. 

"  It  is  hard,  indeed,  when  a  man  must  refuse  the 
first  request  of  his  bride;  but,  my  darling,  I  cannot 
dishonor  myself;  Such  baseness  would  not  prove  my 
love;  and  it  would  inevitably  arouse  your  contempt." 

She  had  risen,  and  as  they  faced  each  other  under 
the  lamp  the  swaying  carnations  almost  touched  his 
glossy  black  head. 

Lifting  her  tightly  locked  hands  in  entreaty,  her 
voice  vibrated  like  a  lute  string  rudely  swept. 

"  Don't,  oh,  don't  break  my  heart !  Help  me  to 
shield  my  father  from  shame,  and  I  will  bless  you  as 
long  as  I  live.  I  am  so  wretched — the  world  is  going 
to  pieces — and  I  am  clinging  to  you  as  the  one  rock 
of  safety,  the  sole  refuge  that  will  not  fail  me.  If  you 
ever  really  loved  me,  oh,  Mr.  Noel,  have  mercy  on 
me  now !  " 

His  face  hardened,  and,  unwilling  to  trust  his  voice, 
he  shook  his  head.  She  staggered  as  if  from  a  blow, 
but  after  a  moment  her  cheeks  flamed,  and  banked 
fires  glowed  in  her  dilated  eyes. 


300  A,   SPECKLED   BIRD 

"  Eglah,  when  did  your  father  have  the  cruelty  to 
tell  you  about  the  papers  in  my  possession?  " 

"  He  never  told  me.  He  does  not  suspect  I  know, 
and  he  must  not  find  out  I  am  aware  of  their  exist 
ence  ;  because  I  could  not  bear  that  such  an  additional 
sorrow  should  overtake  him.  My  father !  It  is  your 
will  and  purpose  to  ruin  him  in  his  old  age  ?  " 

"  Only  Judge  Kent  and  I  were  cognizant  of  the 
existence  of  that  box.  May  I  ask  how  you  obtained 
your  information  ?  " 

"  I  was  in  his  bedroom  next  to  the  library  when 
you  and  father  came  in.  The  door  was  open,  and 
through  the  thin  curtain  I  heard  every  word — every 
cruel,  horrible  word,  that  cut  my  heart  like  a  dagger. 
At  first,  when  you  spoke  of  not  wishing  me  to  know, 
I  felt  I  had  no  right  to  listen,  but  some  things  had 
long  perplexed  me,  things  that  father  would  not  ex 
plain,  and  I  determined  to  make  an  end  of  mysteries." 

All  tenderness  had  vanished  from  his  set  face,  and 
his  blue-grey  eyes  watched  her  much  as  a  judge 
might  a  witness  on  the  stand. 

The  train  had  entered  a  deep,  rocky  cut,  and  the 
clattering  roar  sounded  a  verbal  truce.  When  it 
rushed  through  a  meadow,  Mr.  Herriott  put  his 
hands  behind  him. 

"  I  must  have  all  the  truth  now.  If  you  had  not 
overheard  that  conversation,  you  would  not  have 
waited  for  and  intercepted  me  in  the  grove?  " 

"  Certainly  not.  I  wished  to  see  you  at  once,  and 
before  I  met  father." 

"  Your  terrible  distress  and  agitation  were  solely 
on  his  account,  and  not  because  of  my  approaching 
journey?  " 

"  Yes,  for  father's  safety.     I  was  grieved  to  hear 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  301 

you  were  going  so  far  away,  but,  Mr.  Noel,  father  is 
my  all.  When  I  learned  of  the  exposure  threatening 
him  I  think  I  must  have  gone  mad,  or  I  should  not 
have  made  the  ghastly  mistake  of  believing  you  loved 
me  well  enough  to  help  me  save  him,  and " 

She  paused,  silenced  by  the  flash  in  his  eyes,  the 
white  fury  of  his  face. 

"  You  proposed  our  marriage  solely  to  find  an  op 
portunity  for  getting  possession  of  the  papers?  " 

"  Yes,  that  was  my  object.  I  thought  you  would 
not  deny  the  prayer  of  your  wife." 

"  You  have  come  to  my  arms  with  no  more  love  in 
your  heart  than  when  you  refused  me  years  ago?  " 

"  Yes.  In  a  way  I  have  always  been  attached  to 
you;  I  honor,  and  admire,  and  trust  you  fully,  and 
of  all  men  I  hold  you  first — but  love !  God  help  me ! 
Perhaps  in  time  I  may  learn." 

"  You  considered  yourself  the  price  of  the  papers, 
and  felt  assured  I  could  not  refuse  to  sell  ?  Any  man 
who  held  them  could  own  you  body  and  soul !  Any 
clodhopper,  lout,  any  libertine,  any  moral  leper  could 
own  you  for  life,  in  exchange  for  the  papers !  You, 
my  white-souled,  proud,  sensitive,  ideal  woman,  for 
sale !  For  sale !  " 

The  red  spots  in  her  cheeks  deepened,  and  a  defiant 
ring  steadied  her  trembling  voice. 

"  As  you  are  the  only  person  who  could  yield  me 
what  I  sought,  you  are  the  one  possible  purchaser. 
But  there  was  an  additional  reason  for  my  becoming 
your  wife.  My  grandmother's  will  requires  the  es 
tate  she  gave  me  kept  in  the  hands  of  a  trustee  until 
I  am  thirty,  unless  I  marry.  In  that  event  I  come 
into  immediate  unrestricted  possession,  and  I  thought 
if  you  denied  my  prayer  I  would  be  financially  able 


302  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

to  buy  the  papers  when  you  delivered  them  in  my 
presence.  That  is  the  one  hope  that  stands  now  be 
tween  me  and  despair — a  hope  made  possible  by  and 
based  on  my  marriage.  There  was  no  other  door  of 
escape  from  ruin,  and  so  I  sold  myself  to  the  one  man 
whom  I  have  always  honored  and  trusted — who  I  be 
lieved  would  be  patient  with  me.  Yes,  I  sold  myself. 
That  you  would  be  deeply  aggrieved  I  knew,  because 
I  intended  you  should  learn  all  the  truth  to-night. 
The  horror,  the  hot  shame  of  the  last  few  hours  you 
will  never,  never  understand." 

"  There  was,,  however,  solace  for  you  in  the  pos 
sibility  that  Polar  perils  might  speedily  cancel  your 
matrimonial  bonds?  At  least  that  is  one  hope  I  can 
share  with  you." 

Swinging  around  a  sharp  curve,  the  car  lurched 
violently,  and  she  staggered.  He  caught  her  arm 
and  led  her  to  the  seat,  where  she  leaned  her  head 
against  the  panel  and  shut  her  eyes.  Singularly 
beautiful  was  the  proud  face  wearing  the  pathetic  seal 
of  mental  suffering,  but,  as  he  looked  dowrn  at  her, 
no  pity  softened  the  gleam  in  his  eyes,  and  his  hands 
clinched  in  his  struggle  for  self-control. 

"  To-night  I  have  learned  how  a  man  feels  when 
an  angel  he  worshipped  from  afar  stooped  from  her 
heights,  led  him  up,  up  to  the  open  gate  of  heaven, 
and,  just  as  he  was  entering,  the  same  angelic  hand 
dropped  him  into  hell.  When  I  had  abandoned  all 
hope  of  winning  you,  the  suddenness  of  your  sur 
render  made  my  head  reel.  I  was  amazed;  but  the 
possibility  that  you  deliberately  planned  to  deceive 
me  no  more  occurred  to  me  than  would  an  insult  to 
my  dead  mother.  For  me  you  have  embodied  all 
that  I  hold  pure,  lofty,  refined,  admirable  in  woman- 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  303 

hood.  I  was  fastidious,  but  you  filled  my  ideal,  and 
I  trusted  you  almost  as  I  trust  my  God.  You  have 
wronged  me  doubly — in  the  loss  of  yourself,  but  far 
worse  in  the  destruction  of  my  belief  in  the  incorrupti 
bility  of  some  women;  sooner  or  later  all  are  for  sale. 

If  I  had  sailed  away  before  seeing  you  at  Y I 

should  have  carried  an  unsullied,  a  perfect,  sacred 
memory  of  you  to  light  the  long  Arctic  night.  God 
knows  I  would  sooner  have  died  there  than  realize  you 
cruelly,  deliberately  deceived  me.  You  thought  you 
were  buying  the  papers;  but,  as  they  will  not  be  de 
livered,  the  trade  is  off.  You  cannot  get  possession 
of  what  you  purchased,  and  the  price  paid  I  here  re 
turn  to  you.  You  have  no  papers,  and  I  have  no 
wife.  Without  value  received  on  your  part,  I  have 
no  right  to  you,  and  we  stand  now  just  as  we  did 
before  that  marriage  ceremony,  which  has  proved  a 
mere  commercial  mockery.  I  abhor  shams — above 
all  things  sham  marriage.  All  or  none.  Only  very 
strong,  deep,  tender  love  justifies  a  woman  in  giving 
herself  away.  Otherwise  the  relation  degrades  her; 
she  is  little  better  than  an  odalisque;  and  such  I  de 
cline  to  see  you.  For  me  you  have  no  love — never 
will  have — and  as  regards  my  own  wishes,  your  du 
plicity  has  effectually  slain  what  once  warmed  my 
heart.  After  a  few  days,  relief  for  both  of  us  will 
come  in  separation.  If  I  never  return  you  will  escape 
much  annoyance.  When  two  years  elapse,  the  divorce 
court  cannot  refuse  to  give  you  freedom  from  nomi 
nal  bonds,  and  then  you  will  soon  forget  that  you 
were  ever — even  in  name — my  wife." 

She  had  grown  ghastly  pale,  and  her  lips  fluttered. 
In  the  brief  silence  a  sick  child's  fretful  cry  rolled 


304  A  SPECKLED  BIRD 

through  the  adjoining  sleeper,  then  the  train  thun 
dered  into  a  tunnel 

"  Mr.  Herriott,  I  am  so  utterly  miserable  cruel 
words,  even  from  you,  no  longer  have  power  to 
wound  me.  I — "  She  laughed  nervously,  and  sat 
upright. 

"  My  worse  than  useless  appeal  to  your  mercy  re 
minds  me  of  a  picture  of  the  Deluge  I  once  saw,  when 
I  was  a  happy  child.  A  drowning  woman  clung  to 
the  edge  of  an  open  window  in  the  ark,  begging  suc 
cor,  and  Noah  leaned  out  and  pried  off  her  grasping 
hands,  smiting  her  back  into  hungry  waves.  I  shall 
obey  your  wishes,  Mr.  Herriott,  in  all  but  one  step 
you  have  suggested.  I  do  not  believe  in  the  validity 
of  divorces.  Vows  made  to  God  can  never  be  can 
celled  by  civil  processes.  A  consecrated  minister  is 
not  a  mere  notary  public  to  attest  signatures  to  a 
deed.  My  marriage  is  forever  sacred  as  my  baptism; 
my  covenant  in  His  sight,  in  His  holy  name,  stands 
always — '  till  death  us  do  part/  You  shall  be  as  free 
as  you  wish.  You  need  never  see  me  again,  but  so 
long  as  I  live  I  intend  to  hold  myself  your  wife." 

"  Will  you  do  me  the  kindness  to  hand  me  your 
ring?" 

She  drew  it  from  her  finger  and  held  it  toward 
him.  He  turned  it  slowly,  smiling  bitterly. 

"  You  have  not  seen  the  inscription.  '  Till  death 
us  do  part/  The  sight  of  it  must  be  an  unpleasant 
reminder,  and  I  hope  and  ask  that  you  will  never  wear 
it.  As  a  worthless  symbol  of  what  no  longer  exists, 
allow  me  to  throw  it  away." 

"Just  as  you  please;  only  remember  you  have  no 
right  to  do  so,  it  is  mine.  If  it  were  cast  into  the 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  305 

ocean,  I  should  never  cease  to  feel  its  sacred  clasp  on 
my  finger." 

He  laid  it  on  the  seat  beside  her,  and  she  replaced 
it  on  her  hand.  He  looked  at  his  watch. 

"  It  will  soon  be  daylight.  I  am  going  into  the 
smoking  car.  Perhaps  you  can  rest.  Shall  I  send 
the  porter?" 

"  No.     I  could  not  sleep/' 

He  went  out,  closing  the  door  carefully. 

With  a  smothered  groan  she  sank  back,  and  beat 
her  palms  against  each  other.  Humiliated,  sorely 
wounded,  yet  indignant — almost  hopeless,  but  defiant 
— she  stubbornly  refused  to  despair  until  she  had  ex 
hausted  every  means  at  her  command. 

After  a  while  she  knelt  down  and  prayed  God's 
help  in  her  mission  to  save  her  father.  She  never 
knew  that  the  door  had  glided  noiselessly  half  way  in 
its  groove  and  that  Mr.  Herriott  stood  there  to  ask 
if  she  needed  anything.  He  saw  the  figure  bowed  in 
prayer,  and  stole  away  as  softly  as  he  came.  The 
strain  was  telling  upon  her  quivering  nerves.  Hyster 
ical  aching  in  her  throat,  parched  and  dry,  was  almost 
intolerable,  and  the  swaying  carnations  so  burdened 
the  air  that  when  she  rose  her  head  swam. 

After  an  hour  she  struggled  to  her  feet.  If  she 
had  some  water  it  might  cool  her  throat.  From  her 
satchel  she  took  a  cup,  opened  the  door,  and,  support 
ing  herself  by  one  hand  on  the  wall  of  the  car,  she 
walked  down  the  narrow  passage,  where  she  knew  the 
water-tank  stood  near  the  porter's  seat.  Before  she 
reached  it  she  saw  Mr.  Herriott  leaning  sideways 
against  the  glass  door  opening  on  the  platform.  Just 
then  the  brakeman  raised  his  lantern,  and  the  flash 
showed  a  hopelessly  sad  face  sternly  set  under  the 
20 


306  A    SPECKLED   BIRD 

close-fitting  travelling  cap.  As  she  turned  back,  he 
saw  her  and  advanced. 

"What  do  you  wish?" 

She  held  out  the  cup. 

"  Some  water,  please." 

She  reeled,  clutched  at  the  wall,  and  for  an  instant 
everything  spun  round.  He  placed  her  in  the  por 
ter's  folding  chair,  and  when  he  held  the  cup  to  her 
mouth  saw  that  her  teeth  chattered.  She  drank  spas 
modically,  and  a  long,  shuddering  sigh  drifted  across 
her  white  lips. 

"  You  must  lie  down  and  rest.  The  porter  will 
arrange  your  berth." 

She  shook  her  head  and  rose. 

"  You  cannot  walk  alone;  lean  on  me." 

"  Yes,  I  can  help  myself  now.  I  was  thirsty  and 
dizzy." 

She  drew  back,  but  he  put  his  arm  around  her,  hold 
ing  her  firmly  against  him,  and  placed  her  on  the  seat 
in  the  drawing-room.  She  pointed  to  the  carnations. 

"  The  perfume  is  overpowering.  I  can't  reach 
them.  Please  take  them  out." 

Lifting  an  arm  he  snapped  the  string. 

"  Like  every  other  souvenir  and  symbol  of  to-night, 
they  are  simply  sickening." 

Raising  the  window  he  threw  the  flowers  into  a 
river  across  which  the  locomotive  was  cautiously  feel 
ing  its  way.  He  opened  his  own  satchel,  leaning 
against  hers  on  the  opposite  seat,  took  out  a  silver 
flask,  and  poured  some  ruby,  aromatic  liquid  into  the 
cup. 

"  You  are  sadly  spent;  take  this." 

"  No,  I  do  not  need  anything  more." 

"  You  must.     It  is  merely  a  mild  cocktail." 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  307 

"  No,  Mr.  Herriott,  I  prefer  not." 

"  A  few  hours  ago  did  you  swear  to  obey  me  ? 
Drink  it." 

She  hid  her  face  in  her  hands  and  shivered. 

"  Eglah,  try  to  control  yourself." 

"  Please  don't  take  any  trouble  on  my  account;  just 
leave  me  alone  with  my  torturing  forebodings.  No 
one  but  God  can  help  me  now.  The  sight  of  me  is 
painful  to  you,  and  I  shrink  from  annoying  you.  Mr. 
Herriott,  please  leave  me  to  myself." 

He  sat  down  beside  her,  the  cup  in  his  hand. 

"  To-night  you  have  made  me  suffer  more  than 
you  will  ever  understand — you  have  hurt  me  beyond 
all  possibility  of  healing — and,  perhaps,  in  the  ter 
ribly  sudden  overthrow  of  beautiful  hopes  you  had 
called  into  existence,  I  may  have  seemed  harsh.  If 
so,  you  must  pardon  any  desperate  words  my  torture 
.wrung  from  me.  Poor  child,  you  have  sorrows 
enough  without  any  additions  from  my  hand.  I  can 
not  trust  myself  to  talk  to  you;  my  temper  is  some 
times  beyond  control,  and  you  have  bruised  my  heart 
so  sorely  I  am  not  sure  of  self-command.  Poor 
little  girl!  Do  me  the  favor  to  drink  this,  because 
I  ask  it." 

He  held  the  cup  to  her  lips  and  she  drank.  He 
took  a  pillow  from  the  opposite  seat  and  put  it  behind 
her  head. 

"  If  you  need  anything  you  have  only  to  open  the 
door  and  I  shall  come." 

"  Mr.  Herriott,  there  is  but  one  thing  I  shall  ever 
ask  you  to  do  for  me.  The  ring  you  placed  on  my 
finger  I  took  off  at  your  request.  Here  it  is.  With 
your  own  hand  put  it  back  where  it  belongs,  and  it 
will  be  there  when  I  die." 


308  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

She  held  out  her  hand  with  the  ring  in  her  palm. 
He  looked  at  her  intently,  and  his  lips  tightened. 

"  Repeat  a  mockery  ?     A  shameful  farce !  " 

He  lifted  the  glittering  circle,  tossed  it  up  twice, 
struggling  with  the  impulse  to  hurl  it  through  the 
window,  then  suddenly  slipped  it  on  her  finger, 
dropped  her  hand,  and,  picking  up  his  satchel,  left 
her. 

Would  the  night  never  end?  If  Duncan  Keith 
refused  to  sell?  She  thought  of  quiet,  lovely  olive- 
clad  plains  in  Sicily,  with  pergolas  cool  in  green  shad 
ows  of  vines,  where  they  might  retreat  from  dis 
graceful  publicity.  Mr.  Herriott  scorned,  repudiated 
her,  and  henceforth  she  could  devote  herself  entirely 
to  tender  care  of  her  father.  Ambition  and  hope  were 
dead,  but  was  there  any  anaesthetic  to  still  the  burn 
ing  stings  of  memory  ?  She  went  to  the  opposite  seat 
and  rested  her  head  against  the  open  window.  A 
thin,  sallow,  fading  old  moon  hung  like  a  spectre  in 
the  sky  where  the  morning  star  lighted  the  way  for 
the  coming  new  day,  and  the  dew-sprinkled  air  swept 
in,  spiced  with  waves  of  aroma  from  a  blooming  vine 
yard. 

Hamlets,  meadows,  fields,  bridges,  the  looming 
shadow  of  a  wooded  mountain  fled  past  as  the  train 
rocked,  hummed,  and  flew  on.  Looking  up  at  the 
quiet  heavens,  Eglah  lifted  her  hands  and  heart  in 
passionate  appeal. 

"  Dear  God,  have  mercy  upon  us !  If  I  did  wrong, 
forgive  my  sin.  Help  me  now  to  save  my  poor  un 
fortunate  father,  and  I  will  strive  to  be  a  better  Chris 
tian  all  the  remainder  of  my  days." 

At  eight  o'clock  a  waiter  brought  her  breakfast. 
Later,  when  Mr.  Herriott  came  in,  it  was  evident  he 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  309 

had  mastered  himself;  the  fury  of  white  heat  had 
chilled  to  cold  steel.  He  was  very  pale,  and  an  un 
usual  rigidity  locked  his  features. 

"  You  must  be  very  tired  of  this  close  place,  and 
I  am  glad  we  shall  change  cars.  It  is  a  fine  day,  and 
the  scenery  along  the  route  will  interest  you.  Here 
is  our  train.  Give  me  your  wrap  and  satchel." 

The  change  was  into  a  parlor  car  with  fresh,  linen- 
covered  revolving  chairs,  and  wide  windows  framing 
lovely  spring  pastorals — sheep  on  a  green  hillside, 
cattle  knee  deep  in  rock-bedded  crystal  streams,  and 
everywhere  the  busy  bird  world  nest  building. 

Eglah  drew  a  deep  breath  of  relief,  and,  as  Mr. 
Herriott  pushed  a  hassock  under  her  feet,  she  looked 
up  at  him. 

"  Thank  you.  Will  you  be  so  kind  as  to  tell  me 
when  we  shall  reach  the  place  where  your  ward 
lives?" 

"  I  think  the  train  has  about  made  up  lost  time, 
and  we  are  due  at  Woodbury  at  half-past  six.  It  is  not 
on  the  trunk  line,  and  we  take  a  narrow  gauge  just 
beyond  Carville." 

Both  wound  their  watches,  and  then,  liberally  sup 
plied  with  magazines  and  papers,  settled  comfortably 
in  adjoining  seats.  She  was  the  only  woman  in  the  car, 
and  a  dozen  men  were  scattered  about,  a  few  playing 
cards,  some  dozing,  others  absorbed  in  newspapers. 

Mr.  Herriott  sat  in  front  of  his  companion,  his 
chair  turned  half  around  and  toward  the  window. 
After  a  time  he  took  from  his  satchel  a  folded  chart 
and  note-book.  Spreading  the  former  across  his 
knees,  he  appeared  oblivious  of  all  but  the  lines  and 
figures,  yet  the  angles  in  his  bronze  face  did  not 
soften.  Eglah  had  taken  off  her  hat,  hoping  to  ease 


310  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

the  teasing  pain  in  her  temples.  She  rested  her  head 
against  the  back  of  the  chair,  and  held  up  an  open 
magazine,  but  no  page  was  turned,  and  as  she  laid  it 
in  her  lap  she  shut  her  eyes. 

Her  thoughts  drifted  to  a  small  villa  near  Messina 
which  Judge  Kent  had  expressed  a  wish  to  occupy 
because  he  chanced  to  see  it  in  a  rosy  mantle  of  al 
mond  blossoms.  Mr.  Whitfield  would  attend  to  estate 
matters,  and  Boynton  could  be  trusted  to  manage  the 
plantations,  though  they  were  miles  apart.  She  could 
do  as  she  pleased  now  with  her  money,  and  if  she 
failed  in  her  mission  to  Woodbury  she  would  ask  her 
father  to  take  her  abroad  at  once,  until  Mr.  Herriott 
returned.  During  that  time  public  discussion  of  "  Ely 
Twiggs  "  would  end,  and  probably  she  need  never 
come  back  to  America.  Mr.  Herriott  evidently 
wished  her  out  of  his  life,  forever  out  of  his  sight,  and 
certainly  he  should  be  gratified.  Her  father  could 
not  suspect  her  reason  for  going  to  Europe ;  he  knew 
how  to  keep  newspapers  from  her,  and  as  he  did  not 
dream  she  knew  the  dreadful  truth,  they  might  re 
sume  the  dear  old  life.  So  profound  was  her  revery 
that  she  had  unconsciously  opened  her  eyes,  and  they 
looked  out,  seeing,  not  the  farms  and  forests  gliding 
by  the  window,  but  the  sapphire  sky,  the  purple  sea, 
the  snow  of  lemon  groves,  the  red  glow  of  oleander- 
walled  gardens,  and  the  silvery  grey-green  olive 
orchards  where  she  might  hide  her  father  from 
shame,  herself  from  the  withering  scorn  of  Mr.  Her- 
riott's  cruel  eyes. 

Glancing  at  her  over  the  top  of  the  lifted  chart, 
his  attention  was  arrested  by  the  intense  abstraction 
in  which  she  was  plunged.  Her  extreme  pallor  was 
relieved  only  by  vivid  color  in  her  delicately  curved 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  311 

lips,  and  under  the  eyes  bluish  circles  told  something 
of  her  suffering.  He  thought  of  the  haunting,  won 
derful  eyes  of  Urd,  and  bit  his  lips  as  he  watched  her; 
so  pathetically  hopeless,  yet  unwaveringly  proud  was 
the  pure  face  he  had  loved  long  and  passionately. 

The  door  behind  them  opened,  and  a  naval  officer 
entered,  carrying  in  his  arms  a  crying  child  about  six 
months  old.  The  bundle  of  muslin  and  lace  squirmed 
and  struggled  as  the  man  strove  to  pacify  it  by  beat 
ing  a  tattoo  on  the  window,  dangling  his  watch  close 
to  the  baby's  eyes,  and  bouncing  it  up  and  down.  He 
walked  about,  sat  down,  laid  the  infant  face  down 
ward  across  his  knees,  trotted  it,  patted  it,  but  with 
no  quieting  success,  and,  when  the  engine  blew  long 
and  loud  for  a  bridge  crossing,  the  frightened  child 
screamed  distressingly. 

The  officer  rose. 

"  I  am  sorry  to  annoy  the  passengers,  but  the  nurse 
has  been  taken  so  ill  she  cannot  hold  her  head  up,  and 
as  the  boy  cries  to  go  to  her  I  was  obliged  to  bring 
him  in  here.  He  never  saw  me  until  last  night.  I 
was  on  a  cruise  when  his  poor  mother  died." 

Once  more  he  essayed  to  whistle,  and  swayed  to 
and  fro  with  a  rocking  motion,  but  finally  desperate, 
he  turned  to  a  young  man  in  a  neighboring  chair, 
who  was  smiling  over  a  cartoon  in  "  Puck." 

"  Sir,  would  you  do  me  the  great  kindness  to  hold 
him  just  a  moment,  while  I  get  something  from  his 
nurse?" 

"  All  right,  I  will  try;  but  I  happen  to  be  a  bache 
lor,  and  I  never  held  a  baby  in  my  life.  Come  on, 
little  man.  Some  day  you  surely  will  make  a  star 
screamer  in  opera.  Now  for  it,  sonny." 

He  held  out  his  arms,  but,  as  the  father  attempted 


312  A  SPECKLED   BIRD 

to  transfer  the  boy,  the  sight  of  another  strange  face 
increased  his  terror;  the  little  hands  grasped  the  offi 
cer's  beard,  and  the  baby  shrieked  in  protest. 

Eglah  rose  and  crossed  the  car. 

"  He  is  accustomed  to  women;  perhaps  I  can  quiet 
him.  Will  you  allow  me  to  try?  " 

"  O,  thank  you,  madam  !  " 

She  took  one  little  hand,  caressed  it,  toyed  with  the! 
fingers,  and  cooed  as  only  women  can.  After  a  mo 
ment  the  child  ceased  crying,  and  when  very  gently 
she  took  it  and  laid  it  up  against  her  shoulder  the 
little  creature  nestled  close  to  her.  His  suspicion, 
however,  was  not  entirely  allayed.  Suddenly  he 
lifted  his  head,  stared  curiously  into  her  face,  and 
when  she  laid  her  cheek  on  his,  wet  with  tears,  he 
seemed  reassured,  and  clung  to  her,  his  lips  touching 
her  throat. 

The  young  man  leaned  over  and  whispered  to  a 
friend  in  the  chair  before  him. 

"  He  shows  good  taste  in  picking  his  nurse.  Is 
not  she  a  beauty?  I  have  been  watching  that  hand 
some  couple,  and  things  are  not  serene  in  their  camp. 
I  was  near  him  in  the  smoker,  and  his  face  looked  like 
a  brownstone  statue  with  live  wild-cat  eyes." 

Eglah  walked  slowly  up  and  down  the  aisle,  hum 
ming  low  and  very  softly  Kucken's  "  Schlummerlied." 
Now  and  then  the  child  sobbed  faintly. 

The  officer  came  back  with  a  bottle  of  milk,  but, 
as  he  hurried  forward,  Eglah  shook  her  head.  After 
a  little  while  the  exhausted  baby  slept  soundly. 

"  Madam,  I  cannot  thank  you  sufficiently  for  your 
goodness.  I  will  relieve  you  now,  and  I  trust  the 
passengers  will  excuse  the  annoyance." 

"  Let  me  keep  him  a  while ;  he  still  sobs  now  and 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  313 

then,  and  if  moved  might  wake.  A  good  nap  will 
quiet  his  nerves." 

"  It  is  too  great  a  tax  on  you,  madam." 

"  When  I  am  tired,  I  shall  bring  him  to  you." 

"  In  a  half  hour  we  get  home,  and  since  you  are 
so  very  kind,  I  will  help  the  nurse  arrange  luggage 
for  our  station." 

Eglah  went  back  to  her  own  chair,  and  holding 
the  little  creature  with  her  right  arm  softly  patted 
him  with  her  left  hand.  At  every  motion  the  wed 
ding  ring  flashed  like  a  dancing  demon  in  Mr.  Her- 
riott's  watching  eyes. 

"  Poor  little  chap.     Did  you  mesmerize  him  ?  " 

"  I  think  there  is  telepathy  in  great  trouble.  He 
feels  intuitively  that  some  one  else  is  suffering  tor 
ture,  and  '  a  fellow  feeling '  drew  him  to  me." 

She  avoided  looking  at  him,  and  her  eyes  followed 
the  evolutions  of  a  flock  of  white  geese  holding  re 
gatta  in  a  pond  close  to  the  railway  track. 

After  some  moments,  she  cautiously  and  tenderly 
laid  her  muslin-clad  burden  in  her  lap,  and  smoothed 
out  the  long  lace-ruffled  robe.  With  a  start  one  little 
hand  was  thrown  up,  but  she  caught  and  held  it.  He 
was  a  handsome  boy,  and  when  she  untied  the  lace 
cap,  too  tight  at  his  throat,  his  fluffy  yellow  locks  en 
hanced  his  beauty. 

The  sight  of  the  baby  fingers  clinging  to  the  hand 
where  the  gold  band  shone  renewed  the  struggle  Mr. 
Harriott  was  trying  to  crush. 

Leaning  toward  her,  he  said: 

"  Last  night,  at  your  request,  I  stifled  my  repug 
nance,  and  did  what  I  deeply  regret.  To-day  I  must 
ask  you  for  the  only  favor  you  can  ever  grant  me. 
Give  me  back  my  ring." 


314  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

There  was  an  angry  pant  in  his  voice  that  made 
the  words  a  demand  rather  than  request. 

"  Mr.  Herriott,  I  am  sorry  to  refuse  any  wish  of 
yours;  but  I  cannot." 

"  I  want  it." 

She  looked  stQadily  at  him. 

"  So  do  I.  When  I  die  it  will  be  where  you  placed 
it;  but  in  the  coffin  human  covenants  end,  and  I  will 
order  it  sent  to  you  by  those  who  lay  me  in  the  grave. 
My  ring  is  the  badge  of  my  loyalty — not  yours.  You 
are  as  free  as  you  wish  to  be,  but  when  I  meet  my 
God  He  will  know  I  kept  my  marriage  vows — al 
ways." 

"  And  the  supreme  vow  was  to  love  me !  " 

From  the  fury  in  his  eyes  she  did  not  flinch. 

"  Yes,  I  intended  to  keep  all.  I  thought  I  might 
learn  to  love  you ;  and  that  you  would  be  patient  with 
me.  I  wanted  to  love  you,  and,  as  God  hears  me,  I 
meant  to  spend  my  life  trying  to  love  you." 

Unable  to  restrain  words  he  was  unwilling  to  utter, 
he  sprang  up  and  took  refuge  on  the  front  platform. 

A  prolonged  whistle  of  the  engine  announced  the 
next  stop,  and  the  baby  awoke  with  a  startled  cry,  just 
as  his  father  entered,  followed  by  the  nurse,  a  middle- 
aged  woman  who  looked  too  ill  to  stand.  Eglah  rose 
and  laid  the  child  in  her  arms. 

"  Madam,  I  am  deeply  grateful  for  your  courtesy 
and  goodness.  I  intended  handing  my  card  to  your 
husband.  Permit  me  to  lay  it  on  his  chair." 

"  I  was  glad  to  have  your  pretty  boy.  It  was  a 
welcome  incident  in  a  very  dreary  day.  Good  morn 
ing,  sir." 

Mr.  Herriott  did  not  return  until  the  second  call 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  315 

for  luncheon  sounded  through  the  train.  He  took 
her  hat  from  the  brass  hook  and  held  it  toward  her. 

"  I  dare  say  you  are  sufficiently  weary  to  welcome 
luncheon." 

"  Thank  you,  but  I  want  absolutely  nothing.  I 
hope  you  will  go  without  me." 

He  went  out,  but  not  to  the  dining  car. 

An  hour  later,  when  he  came  back,  she  had  crossed 
the  aisle  to  a  vacant  chair,  raised  the  window,  and, 
with  an  arm  on  the  broad  sill,  rested  her  head  there. 
She  did  not  notice  his  entrance,  and  resuming  his  seat 
he  opened  a  magazine. 

Above  the  line  of  brass  lattice  that  held  packages, 
hats,  and  umbrellas  ran  a  panel  of  mirrors,  and  in  the 
section  over  his  head  was  reflected  the  face  and  figure 
directly  opposite.  For  the  next  hour  he  held  the 
magazine  open,  but  his  eyes  never  left  the  mirror. 
Twice  she  looked  at  her  watch  without  raising  her 
head,  and  from  the  tense,  strained  fixedness  of  her 
features  he  knew  she  was  nerving  herself  for  the  or 
deal  at  Woodbury;  the  final  effort  in  her  father's  be 
half,  which  he  felt  assured  would  prove  futile.  Con 
flicting  emotions  shook  him,  but  nothing  availed  to 
abate  the  rage  of  his  disappointment. 

The  train  slowed  at  the  entrance  to  a  large  town, 
and  as  the  station  platform  filled  with  curious  faces 
peering  into  the  car  windows,  Eglah  went  back  to  her 
own  seat. 

A  moment  later  the  door  was  thrown  open,  and  a 
boy  wearing  the  uniform  of  the  telegraph  company 
shouted : 

"  Is  Mr.  Noel  Herriott  aboard?  Message  for  Mr. 
Noel  Herriott!" 

"  I  am  Mr.  Herriott" 


316  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

He  went  forward,  signed  his  name  in  the  receipt- 
book,  and  opened  the  envelope.  He  stood  with  his 
back  to  Eglah,  and  remained  so  motionless  that  she 
was  seized  by  an  apprehension  some  evil  had  over 
taken  her  father.  Just  as  she  rose  he  turned  and  ap 
proached  her. 

"  Has  anything  happened  to  father?  " 

"  This  is  not  from  the  South.  It  does  not  refer  to 
him.  We  may  have  to  stop  here.  Keep  your  seat 
till  I  ascertain  positively." 

Very  soon  he  returned,  followed  by  a  porter,  who 
promptly  collected  satchels  and  magazines. 

"  I  find  I  must  wait  here  until  two  o'clock  in  the 
morning." 

"  Why  delay  reaching  Woodbury?  I  beg  of  you 
let  us  hasten  on." 

"  There  are  reasons  necessitating  it  that  will  be  ex 
plained  later." 

She  had  drawn  back,  but  he  took  her  arm. 

"  The  train  will  move  in  a  moment,  and  unless  you 
wish  to  go  on  alone,  we  must  be  quick." 

He  assisted  her  into  an  omnibus,  where  several  pas 
sengers  waited,  and  they  were  driven  to  a  hotel.  Mr. 
Herriott  ordered  two  rooms,  and  at  the  door  of  one 
said: 

"  I  must  see  that  the  trunks  are  brought  at  once. 
I  need  mine." 

Throwing  aside  her  hat,  Eglah  began  to  pace  the 
floor.  His  countenance  had  undergone  a  marked 
change — subtle,  inexplicable — and  an  indefinable 
dread  caught  her  heart  as  in  a  vise.  It  seemed  to  her 
that  an  hour  passed  before  he  tapped  at  the  door,  and 
she  could  scarcely  articulate, 
in.3 


A  SPECKLED  BIRD  317 

With  a  square  package  sealed  in  brown  paper 
under  one  arm,  Mr.  Herriott  entered,  closed  the  door, 
and  deposited  the  bundle  on  a  small  table.  From  his 
vest  pocket  he  drew  the  folded  telegram  and  gave  it 
to  her. 

"  Woodbury,  3  P.M. 

"  Duncan  Keith  died  two  days  ago.  Wired  you  at 
New  York  Club.  Everything  attended  to  here.  Will 
meet  you  at  Carville  at  8  P.M. 

"  HERMAN  MARTIN." 

Her  wide,  terrified  eyes  gazed  into  his. 
"  What  does  it  mean  for  me — now?  " 
"  It  means  that  probably  some  guilty  bank  officials 
will  go  '  unwhipped  of  justice/  Duncan's  father  had 
no  relatives  in  America.  He  was  a  poor  stowaway 
lad  from  England,  and  since  the  grandmother's  death 
his  son,  Duncan,  had  only  his  mother's  sister,  Mrs. 
Martin.  I  could  not  hear  from  Duncan,  to  whom  I 
wrote  twice  last  week,  and  this  telegram  is  an  answer 
to  one  I  sent  Martin,  telling  him  I  could  make  only 
a  very  brief  stop  at  Woodbury  to-night.  I  have  done 
my  duty.  I  have  kept  my  word.  The  prosecution 
of  the  guilty  does  not  devolve  on  me,  and  Martin  will 
never  consent  to  undertake  a  suit  for  libel.  It  would 
involve  money  which  he  does  not  possess,  and  respon 
sibility  he  will  not  dare  to  assume.  Your  father's  let 
ters,  and  the  vouchers  for  large  sums  of  money  sent 
to  '  Ely  Twiggs/  are  in  a  separate  envelope.  I  shall 
burn  them  now,  before  I  deliver  the  box  to  Martin." 
She  sprang  forward,  her  hands  on  his  shoulders,  her 
lips  quivering  like  rose-leaves  in  a  gale. 

"  Do  you  mean  it?    Will  you  save  my  father?  " 
He  took  her  wrists  and  held  her  away  from  him 


318  A   SPECKLED  BIRD 

"  Death  saves  him;  certainly  not  I." 

"  No  more  sorrow  can  ever  come  to  him  ?  " 

"  Not  from  this  box;  and  none  through  me." 

The  revulsion  overwhelmed  her.  She  sank  back, 
and  when  he  caught  her  and  put  his  ear  to  her  mouth 
he  could  not  hear  her  breathe.  He  lifted  and  laid 
her  upon  a  sofa,  and  stood  looking  down  at  her.  So 
pure  and  white,  so  helpless,  so  beautiful!  Legally 
his  wife,  but  never  to  be  his. 

Dipping  a  towel  in  water  he  bathed  her  face, 
sprinkled  it.  The  icy  hands  he  chafed  in  his  broad, 
warm  palms,  and  as  his  ringers  touched  the  wedding 
ring  he  ground  his  teeth.  When  her  breathing  grew 
stronger,  he  rose,  relinquished  her  hands,  and  after 
a  moment  she  opened  her  eyes. 

"  I  thought  you  college-bred  girls  too  well  trained 
to  faint." 

She  sat  up,  half  dazed,  and  the  water  dripped  from 
her  hair. 

"  I  never  fainted  before;  something  smothered  me, 
and  everything  turned  black.  Mr.  Herriott !  " 

He  had  gone  to  the  table,  but  turned,  and  looked  at 
her  over  his  shoulder. 

"  Mr.  Herriott,  did  not  you  say  father  was  safe 
from  shame  and  sorrow?  " 

"  In  a  few  moments  he  will  be." 

He  opened  the  tin  box,  selected  a  small  bundle  of 
papers  in  an  envelope  marked  "  Ely  Twiggs,"  and 
drew  some  matches  from  his  case.  In  the  grate  he 
burned  them  one  by  one,  then  relocked  and  tied  up 
the  box. 

"  Eglah,  what  a  pity  Iphigenia  did  not  know  favor 
able  winds  were  already  blowing  at  Aulis  before  she 
yielded  herself  to  her  father's  sacrificing  hands !  Poor 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  319 

Duncan  had  been  dead  twenty-four  hours  when  the 
bishop  performed  that  nuptial  farce.  If  Martin's  tele 
gram  had  been  forwarded,  you  would  now  be  happy 
at  home.  I  find  it  necessary  to  change  my  plans 
somewhat.  I  can  spend  but  a  single  day  at  home, 
and,  instead  of  going  directly  thence  to  Boston,  shall 
make  a  few  hours'  stay  in  New  York  to  see  my  law 
yers." 

"  To  alter  your  will  ?  You  need  not.  I  have  more 
than  I  require,  and  if  I  were  a  pauper  I  should  never 
accept  a  cent  from  you.  There  is  only  one  thing  you 
can  ever  give  me,  and  that  I  must  want  as  long  as  I 
live." 

He  was  walking  slowly  up  and  down  the  floor,  his 
hands  behind  him,  and  paused  beside  the  sofa. 

"What  is  it?" 

She  pushed  back  the  damp  rings  of  hair,  and  lifted 
to  his,  pleading  eyes  pathetically  sad. 

"  Your  confidence — your  old  faith  in  me." 

"  Confidence !  It  lies  with  love  in  a  grave  so  deep 
there  can  be  no  resurrection.  The  world  is  full  of 
women — lovely,  luscious  women.  Of  fair  flesh  there 
is  for  most  men  no  lack;  but  I  wanted,  I  hungered,  I 
longed  for  only  one  pair  of  dimpled  arms  folded  about 
my  neck,  one  woman's  divinely  tender  eyes  answering 
all  the  love  in  mine,  one  pair  of  proud,  pure,  sensi 
tive,  beautiful  lips  seeking  and  clinging  to  mine.  Vol 
untarily  you  gave  yourself  to  me — your  precious  self 
—and  when  bewildered  with  happiness  I  caught  you 
to  my  heart,  you  stabbed  me.  I  was  mole  blind,  but 
sharp  clipping  has  rid  me  of  my  cataracts.  Let  us 
make  an  end  of  this  dismal  farce.  All  my  life  I  have 
fought  my  infernal  temper,  and  now  it  has  me  by  the 
throat.  It  will  take  an  Arctic  winter  to  cool  the  hot 


320  A  SPECKLED  BIRD 

fury  that  possesses  me;  and  because  I  must  not  speak 
harshly  to  you,  I  wish  to  ask  if  you  will  allow  me  to 
leave  you  here  ?  I  can  telegraph  your  father  to  come 
at  once." 

For  a  moment  wounded  pride  stifled  her;  she 
shrank  as  from  a  blow,  and  red  signals  swung  back 
into  her  pale  cheeks. 

"  As  you  please,  Mr.  Herriott.  It  is  more  pain 
fully  embarrassing  for  me  to  force  my  presence  upon 
you  than  for  you  to  endure  the  sight  of  me  for  a  few 
hours  longer.  If  you  prefer  to  leave  me  here  instead 
of  at  the  place  selected  and  designated  before  I  left 
home,  of  course  I  shall  submit.  We  have  not  many 
friends,  and  father's  enemies  will  gossip  over  the  fact 
that  I  was  sent  home  before  you  sailed  from  Boston. 
This,  however,  is  a  minor  matter  in  comparison  with 
the  fear  that  the  change  you  suggest  might  lead 
father  to  suspect  I  had  learned  the  object  of  your  visit 

to  Y .  Life  will  be  unendurable  to  me  if  he  finds 

out  that  I  know  the  contents  of  that  box.  I  would 
rather  die  than  have  him  believe  all  the  horrible  facts 
are  in  my  possession.  For  his  sake  I 

"  For  his  sake  you  would  go  down  into  Hades !  " 

"  Where  else  am  I  now ?  What  ordeal  more  fiery 
than  last  night  and  to-day?  I  know  now  that  I  did 
wrong,  but  the  awful  ruin  seemed  so  imminent  I  fled 
through  the  only  door  of  escape  that  appeared  pos 
sible.  I  am  punished,  and  I  deserve  all  I  suffer. 
Leave  me  here,  or  anywhere  else,  as  you  find  most 
convenient  and  most  comfortable  for  yourself." 

"  Pardon  me.  Of  course  your  wishes  determine 
the  matter.  I  suggested  the  change,  thinking  that 
as  your  sole  object  in  making  this  journey  was  to 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  321 

secure  the  papers,  you  would  find  it  a  relief  to  return 
as  soon  as  you  were  sure  of  their  destruction." 

He  wrote  a  few  lines  in  his  note-book  and  held  it 
before  her. 

"  Would  this  be  entirely  agreeable  to  you?  '  Judge 
Allison  Kent:  Duncan  died  two  days  ago.  I  burned 
the  "  Ely  Twiggs  "  papers  to-night.  Never  mention 
them  to  Eglah.  She  wishes  you  to  meet  her  in  Phila 
delphia  Saturday.' ' 

"Thank  you;  that  is  what  I  prefer.  When  you 
come  back " 

"  I  hope  never  to  come  back.  I  will  not  lead  a 
sham  life,  and  I  will  not  live  under  the  same  roof  with 
one  who,  to  please  her  father,  tried  to  love  me  and 
found  she  could  not." 

"  When  you  come  back  I  shall  try  to  be  in  Europe, 
and  you  may  rest  assured  of  no  intrusion.  My  mar 
riage  gives  me  control  of  my  own  estate,  and  now  I 
wish  to  know  the  amount  it  cost  you  to  recover  the 
ibonds  you  delivered  to  the  college." 

"  You  must  excuse  me  if  I  decline  to  answer.  That 
matter  concerns  only  Nina  and  myself.  What  I  did 
was  solely  for  her  and  my  father." 

"  I  shall  find  out,  and  send  a  check  to  your  law 
yers." 

"  My  lawyers  know  absolutely  nothing  about  it, 
and  as  your  father  must  not  suspect  you  heard  the 
conversation,  you  will  scarcely  ask  him.  I  have  some 
letters  to  write,  memoranda  to  arrange  for  Martin, 
and  several  telegrams  to  send  inmmediately.  Our 
train  starts  at  two  A.M.,  and  you  can  get  a  sound  sleep, 
which  you  sadly  need.  I  ordered  your  dinner  sent 
here.  Do  you  wish  your  trunk?  " 

She  shook  her  head. 
21 


322  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

"  Try  to  get  a  good  rest.  You  will  be  called  in  time 
for  the  train.  I  have  papers  to  prepare  that  will  keep 
me  busy  until  then.  Eglah — poor  little  girl — " 

She  looked  up  at  him  defiantly,  but  the  peculiar 
expression  in  his  brilliant  eyes  she  could  not  under 
stand. 

He  caught  his  mustache  between  his  teeth,  picked 
up  the  tin  box,  and  left  her. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

The  weather  had  changed.  After  rain  a  keen  north 
wind  curled  the  waters  of  the  great  lake  into  wreaths 
of  foam,  breaking  against  the  terrace,  and  the  old 
Scotch  clock  in  the  lower  hall  struck  midnight  as 
Mr.  Herriott's  carriage  drew  up  before  the  open  door 
of  his  house.  When  he  stepped  to  the  ground  a  wild 
uproar  of  rejoicing  dogs  greeted  him,  and  it  was  some 
seconds  before  he  could  rid  himself  of  caressing  paws. 
He  assisted  Eglah  out,  and  turning  toward  the  light 
met  Amos  Lea. 

"  Why,  old  man !  It  was  kind  of  you  to  sit  up  for 
us.  You  should  be  asleep  in  your  bed.  Here  is  Mrs. 
Herriott.  You  saw  her  one  summer." 

The  gardener  held  out  his  rough,  hard  hand,  and 
she  laid  hers  in  it. 

"  Welcome  home,  madam.  I  hope  you  will  be 
good  to  the  lad ;  he  will  always  do  right  by  you." 

Mr.  Herriott  laughed  as  he  led  her  up  the  stone 
steps. 

"  Amos,  you  can  not  lecture  her  as  you  do  me." 

The  housekeeper  and  one  of  the  maids  came  for 
ward  for  wraps  and  satchels. 

"  Mrs.  Orr,  Mrs.  Herriott  is  very  tired.  Did  you 
receive  my  telegram  from  Carville  ?  " 

"Yes,  sir;  the  blue  room  is  in  order;  bath,  fire, 
supper,  everything  all  ready." 

Drawing  Eglah's  arm  through  his,  he  ascended  the 
wide  oak  staircase,  saying: 


324  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

"  I  had  it  papered  and  arranged  especially  for  you 
that  summer  you  came  for  a  few  days,  and  since  then 
no  one  has  been  allowed  to  occupy  it." 

At  the  landing  he  called  over  the  railing : 

"  Mrs.  Orr,  as  it  will  be  late  when  the  trunks  come, 
do  not  send  up  Mrs.  Herriott's  until  morning.  She 
needs  rest,  and  I  do  not  wish  her  disturbed  before  she 
rings  her  bell." 

On  a  table  drawn  near  the  fire  in  the  "  blue  room  " 
a  decanter  and  glasses  glittered  in  the  glow  from 
an  open  hearth.  Mr.  Herriott  poured  out  some  To 
kay. 

"  I  am  sorry  I  could  not  make  your  home-coming 
less  dismal;  but  for  you  the  worst  is  over,  and,  if  you 
please,  we  will  not  refer  to  it  again.  To-morrow  I 
shall  be  engaged  with  two  committees,  one  relating 
to  a  scientific  scholarship  I  wish  to  establish,  and  my 
time  is  so  limited  I  can  be  with  you  very  little.  The 
necessity  for  going  via  New  York,  where  I  must  stop, 
shortens  my  stay  here;  and  I  am  compelled  to  allow 
some  margin  for  delay  en  route  from  Boston  to  Syd 
ney,  where  the  vessel  is  due  on  the  fifteenth.  This 
is  not  exactly  a  '  loving-cup/  but  you  must  join  me." 

He  touched  her  glass  with  his,  and  a  deep  under 
current  of  suppressed  emotion  surged  through  the 
quietly  spoken  words. 

"  Complete  oblivion  of  all  that  has  distressed  you 
during  the  last  forty-eight  hours.  Put  me  entirely 
out  of  your  thoughts,  and  remember  that  now  you 
can  be  happy  with  your  father." 

He  emptied  his  glass  and  replaced  it  on  the  salver. 

"  No.  I  would  not  forget  it  if  I  could.  I  pray  God 
that  you  may  escape  every  danger;  that  you  will 
come  back  in  safety  to  your  home;  and  while  I  may 


A  SPECKLED  BIRD  325 

never  see  you  again,  I  hope  to  hear  you  are  far  hap 
pier  than  I  could  ever  have  made  you." 

She  sipped  the  wine,  put  it  aside,  and  continued : 

"  You  can  not  understand  the  utter  ruin  of  hopes, 
ambitions,  beliefs,  that  heretofore  made  my  life  worth 
living.  In  the  awful  wreck  one  thing  survives — my 
faith  in  you,  who  walk  always  in  the  light  of '  the  high 
white  star  of  Truth/  I  honor  and  I  trust  you  now  as  I 
never  did  before  the  ordeal  of  the  last  few  hours.  The 
fault  was  mine,  not  yours;  and  as  I  deserve,  I  wish 
I  could  bear  all  the  pain,  all  the  consequences,  of  my 
desperate  rashness.  You  do  not  understand  what  I 
suffer." 

She  stood  with  her  hands  folded  on  her  breast,  so 
close  to  him  that  he  noted  how  wan  and  drawn  the 
young  face  had  grown,  how  measureless  the  misery 
in  eyes  peering  hopelessly  into  futurity. 

"  At  least  I  fully  and  sorrowfully  understand  one 
thing — you  know  no  more  about  love  than  that 
baby  you  nursed  on  the  train." 

In  avoidance  of  his  cold  scrutiny,  her  strained  gaze 
had  wandered  to  the  frieze  of  silver  lilies  on  the  wall, 
but  now  she  looked  at  him. 

"  Mr.  Herriott,  you  may  be  sure  that  when  you  go 
away  and  leave  me  forever,  I  shall  never  learn." 

There  was  a  sudden  glint  in  his  eyes,  like  a  blue 
blade  flash,  but  after  a  moment  he  listened  to  the 
clock,  and  turned  away. 

"  Good-night.  Get  all  the  sleep  you  can.  You  will 
need  it  for  your  journey  South  to-morrow." 

He  closed  the  door,  and  she  heard  his  quick  step 
ring  down  the  long  stairway;  then  the  joyful  bark 
of  the  dogs  told  he  had  left  the  house. 

She  was  an  unusually  healthy  woman,  and,  impa- 


326  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

tient  of  the  teasing  pain  in  her  temples,  shook  out  her 
heavy  coil  of  hair.  She  walked  from  door  to  fireplace, 
from  bed  to  bathroom,  up  and  down,  around  and 
around,  too  restless  to  lie  down,  dominated  by  a 
strange  feeling  she  made  no  attempt  to  analyze.  As 
the  clock  struck  four,  she  still  walked  to  and  fro, 
never  suspecting  that  Mr.  Herriott  stood  in  the  hall, 
close  to  her  door,  listening  to  the  slow  sound  of  her 
feet  on  the  polished  oak  floor,  righting  down  his  long 
ing  to  enter  and  take  her  in  his  arms. 

The  "  blue  room  "  looked  out  on  the  sickle-shaped 
beach  and  upon  the  lake,  and  when  the  sun  rose  above 
cliffs  at  the  rear  of  the  house,  the  racing  waves  leaped, 
crooned,  flashed  in  golden  light. 

Looping  back  the  lace  draperies  at  the  window, 
Eglah  stood  watching  the  flight  of  a  loon,  the 
quivering,  silver  flicker  of  ducks'  wings  against  the 
pale  pink  sky-line,  the  gliding  of  a  sloop  with  sails 
bending  like  a  huge  white  butterfly  balancing  over 
some  vast  blue  flower. 

Walking  slowly  up  the  beach,  Mr.  Herriott  was 
approaching  the  stile,  and  with  him  the  collie  Pilot, 
the  Polish  wolfhound  Tzar,  one  on  each  side,  and 
the  wiry  black-and-white  Skye  terrier  Snap  wrig 
gling  in  front.  At  the  stile  Amos  Lea  sat  waiting, 
and  master  and  gardener  talked  for  some  minutes. 

After  a  little  the  latter  rose,  put  one  hand  on  Mr. 
Herriott's  shoulder,  raised  the  other,  and  turned  his 
rugged  face  toward  heaven. 

Eglah  knew  he  was  praying  for  the  man  now 
hurrying  away  to  multitudinous  dangers,  and  her  eyes 
grew  strangely  humid.  When  the  mist  cleared,  she 
saw  they  were  shaking  hands,  and  Amos  disappeared 
behind  the  garden  wall.  As  the  master  neared  the 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  327 

terrace  steps  he  glanced  up  at  her  window,  took  off 
his  cap,  and  saluted  her.  He  had  never  looked  so 
commanding,  so  nobly  built,  so  superior  to  all  other 
men.  Something  stirred,  quivered,  woke  up  in  her 
heart,  and  a  swift  spasm  of  pain  seized  her. 

A  half  hour  later  Mr.  Herriott  knocked  at  her  door. 
She  opened  it,  and  one  quick  glance  at  the  ivory  bed 
and  its  lace  hangings  told  him  she  had  not  lain  down. 
"Good  morning.    Will  you  come  down  and  give  me 
my  coffee,  or  shall  I  send  breakfast  to  you  here  ?  " 
"  I  prefer  to  come  down." 

He  held  up  a  bouquet  of  heliotrope,  daintily  ar 
ranged. 

"  Amos  Lea's  '  compliments  to  the  madam/  and 
he  hopes  she  will  wear  these  flowers,  as  he  always  cut 
heliotrope  for  her  when  she  visited  here." 

Afraid  to  trust  her  voice,  she  took  the  bouquet,  in 
haled  its  fragrance,  and  slipped  the  stems  into  the 
girdle  of  her  silk  morning  gown. 

At  the  head  of  the  stairs  he  put  his  palm  under  her 
elbow  to  steady  her  steps,  but  at  the  door  of  the  din 
ing-room,  where  butler  and  housekeeper  waited,  he 
took  her  fingers  in  his,  led  her  to  the  head  of  the  table, 
and  seated  her.     During  breakfast  he  talked  of  the 
garden,  of  his  horses,  of  some  pheasants  he  knew  she 
would  admire,  of  a  tazza  on  the  library  mantel  she 
must  be  sure  to  examine,  and  she  wondered  at  the 
complete  control  and  composure  he  had  attained.  Was 
it  merely  the  noblesse  oblige  of  a  courteous  host  ? 
After  a  second  cup  of  coffee,  he  looked  at  the  clock. 
"  Hawkins,    tell    Rivers    to    bring    the    dog-cart 
around.    Eglah,  come  and  see  Amos  Lea's  gloxinias." 
He  put  on  his  hat  and  light  overcoat,  and  walked 
beside  her  to  the  hothouse. 


328  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

"  I  shall  be  busy  in  town  nearly  all  day,  there 
are  so  many  last  things  to  be  attended  to.  I  had 
abandoned  all  idea  of  joining  this  expedition,  when 
I  received  a  letter  telling  me  an  important  member 
of  the  party  had  lost  his  father,  and  family  interests 
compelled  him  to  stay  at  home.  The  request  was  ur 
gent  that  I  should  cable  my  acceptance  of  the  invita 
tion,  which  I  did;  hence  I  have  had  little  time  for 
necessary  preparation,  and  some  things  I  am  obliged 
to  do  this  morning.  Here  comes  the  cart.  We  must 
be  at  the  station  by  five  o'clock  this  afternoon.  Your 
train  southbound  starts  just  ten  minutes  before 
mine  leaves  for  New  York.  Trunks  will  be  sent  in 
at  three  o'clock.  While  I  am  away  in  town  I  should 
be  glad  to  have  you  look  all  over  the  house.  Some 
of  the  rooms  you  have  never  seen — my  laboratory 
and  den.  In  my  bedroom  hangs  a  portrait  of  my 
lovely  mother,  that  I  particularly  desire  you  to  see. 
Good-bye." 

He  raised  his  hat,  sprang  into  the  cart,  and  was 
soon  out  of  sight. 

Five  moments  later  the  keen,  solemn  eyes  of  Amos 
peered  at  her  from  behind  a  cluster  of  tall  palms. 

"  Why  didn't  you  marry  him  sooner,  and  keep 
him  at  home?  " 

"  I  did  not  know  he  was  going  until  the  day  we 
were  married.  I  hoped  and  believed  I  could  induce 
him  to  stay,  but  he  had  given  his  word." 

"And  that  word  of  his  he  never  breaks.  Head, 
heart,  purse,  maybe  will  give  way,  but  not  the 
pledged  word  of  old  Fergus  Herriott's  boy.  This 
self-murder  that  goes  on  in  the  name  of  '  science  ' 
is  a  sin  in  the  nostrils  of  the  Lord,  and  if  only 
the  blear-eyed,  spectacled  old  fools  that  set  up  to 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  329 

know  more  about  creation  than  Moses  did,  after 
he  went  to  school  to  God  for  forty  days,  could  swamp 
themselves  under  the  ice,  it  would  be  silly  enough, 
and  no  matter,  but  for  my  lad !  Susan  and  I  nursed, 
rocked  him,  prayed  over  his  cradle  since  he  was 
barely  one  year  old,  and  now  for  him  to  be  cast  out 
like  Jonah  for  fish  bait.  If  God  had  wanted  the  North 
Pole  handled  and  strung  with  flags  it  would  never 
have  been  shut  up  in  nights  six  months  long,  behind 
ice  high  as  Ararat  and  wide  as  the  flood.  There  will 
be  lonesome  days  till  the  lad  gets  home — and  if  he 
never  comes  back!  Where  will  his  dear  bones  be 
in  the  resurrection?" 

His  bearded  chin  trembled,  and  his  heavy,  shaggy 
white  eyebrows  met  over  his  nose. 

"  Mr.  Lea,  we  must  not  cease  to  pray.  God  needs 
such  noble  men  as  Mr.  Herriott,  and  He  can  protect 
him  from  every  danger." 

"  Madam,  don't '  mister  '  me.  I  am  just  Amos  Lea 
— Noel's  Amos.  Study  your  Bible  and  you  will  find 
out  the  Lord  needs  no  man;  the  best  of  us  are  but 
worthless  cumberers  of  the  ground." 

He  drew  his  sleeve  across  his  eyes  and  left  her. 

Up  and  down  the  hothouses,  through  the  shrub 
bery,  over  the  stile,  along  the  curving  beach  and 
back  to  the  terrace  she  wandered,  striving  in  vain  to 
divert  her  thoughts  from  one  fact  that  overshadowed 
everything  else — the  master  was  going  away  that 
afternoon,  and  she  might  never  see  him  again.  From 
public  disgrace  her  father  was  safe,  the  crisis  of  acute 
terror  on  his  account  had  passed;  but  now,  as  the 
smoke  of  the  battle  drifted  away,  she  became  dimly 
conscious  that  she  carried  a  wound  she  had  not  sus 
pected  and  could  not  explain.  The  ache  in  her  heart 


330  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

was  unlike  any  former  pain ;  there  was  nothing  with 
which  to  compare  it,  and  she  dared  not  analyze  it  at 
present.  Through  the  house  she  walked  aimlessly 
until  she  reached  the  suite  of  rooms  set  apart  for  the 
master.  In  the  laboratory  she  did  not  linger,  but 
the  adjoining  apartment  she  knew  must  be  the  "  den," 
from  the  strong,  pervading  odor  of  cigar  srnoke.  The 
wainscoting  of  carved  walnut,  five  feet  high,  was 
surmounted  by  a  shelf  holding  a  miscellaneous  col 
lection  of  whips,  pipes,  geological  specimens,  flints 
from  Indian  mounds,  a  hematite  hatchet,  a  copper 
maul,  a  jade  adze.  In  one  corner  of  the  room  stood  a 
totem  pole  with  a  brooding  owl ;  in  another  a  "  ka 
hili  "  of  white  feathers,  with  richly  inlaid  handle;  and 
upon  the  wall  above  the  shelf,  suspended  by  heavy 
silk  cords,  a  gold-colored  "  ahulla."  Two  trunks 
strapped  and  ready  for  removal  had  been  drawn  to 
the  middle  of  the  apartment.  On  one  lay  a  heavy 
overcoat  fur  lined,  and  a  fine  field  glass  in  a  leather 
shield;  on  the  other  a  gun  case  and  box  of  instru- 
lents. 

She  sat  down  in  a  deep  morocco  cushioned  chair, 
from  the  brass  knob  of  which  hung  a  somewhat  faded 
silk  smoking  jacket  lined  with  quilted  orange  satin, 
and  looked  up  at  the  steel  engravings,  the  etchings, 
the  water  colors  on  the  wall;  at  some  marble  and 
bronze  busts  on  the  mantel  shelf,  and  on  the  top  of 
a  teak  cabinet  filled  with  curios  from  Crete,  Uxmal, 
Labna,  and  the  Mancos  Canon. 

Over  the  writing  desk  and  a  neighboring  table  were 
strewn  scientific  journals,  and  on  a  sheet  of  paper 
that  had  fluttered  to  the  floor  on  its  way  to  the  over 
laden  waste  basket,  bold  headlines  had  been  written 
by  Mr.  Herriott: 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  331 

"  First — Were  the  cliff-dwellers  of  Asiatic  origin  ? 

"  Second — Are  the  Eskimos  survivors  of  pre-gla- 
cial  man  who  dwelt  within  the  Arctic  circle  when  its 
fauna  and  flora,  under  similar  climatic  conditions,  cor 
responded  with  those  now  existing  in  Virginia  and 
Maryland  ? 

"  Third — Are  kames  and  drumlins  infallible  index 
fingers?" 

Whether  the  page  contained  notes  from  some  book 
that  he  wished  to  controvert,  or  his  own  views 
jotted  down  for  future  elaboration,  she  could  not  de 
termine;  but  as  she  stooped  to  pick  up  and  preserve 
it,  a  growl  startled  her,  and  around  the  corner  of  the 
desk  she  saw  the  red  eyes  of  Tzar.  She  spoke  to 
him,  but  he  rose,  showed  his  fangs,  and  stalked  out  of 
the  room,  the  bristles  stiff  on  his  dun-colored  back. 
How  long  she  sat,  plunged  in  painful,  perplexed  rev- 
ery,  she  never  knew ;  but  finally  she  went  to  the  open 
door  of  the  bedroom,  and  leaned  against  the  facing, 
unwilling  to  enter.  Over  the  low,  carved  chimney- 
piece  hung  the  portrait  of  Mrs.  Herriott,  a  very  beau 
tiful  young  woman  in  black  velvet  and  pearls,  and  the 
perfect  features,  the  poise  of  head,  the  silky  black 
hair,  and  especially  the  fine  moulding  of  brow  she  gave 
to  her  son,  though  unlike  his  her  soft,  tender  eyes 
matched  her  hair  in  color. 

Below  the  portrait  a  silver  frame  held  a  photograph 
of  Eglah  in  evening  dress,  taken  in  Washington ;  beside 
it  another,  wearing  her  college  cap  and  gown.  On 
the  dressing  table  a  glittering  circle  arrested  her  at 
tention.  Swiftly  she  entered,  crossed  the  room,  and 
leaned  over  it.  An  exquisitely  painted  miniature  of 
herself,  set  with  diamonds,  and  resting  on  a  carved 
ivory  easel,  looked  up  at  her.  Two  discarded  photo- 


332  A  SPECKLED  BIRD 

graphs  of  Mr.  Herriott  lay  with  some  torn  letters 
under  a  neighboring  chair.  She  snatched  one  and 
hurried  away,  fearing  to  trust  herself;  but  passing  the 
smoking  jacket  she  caught  it  up,  folded  it  under  her 
arm,  and  escaped  to  her  room. 

Exchanging  her  trailing  morning  gown  of  cream 
silk  for  the  travelling  suit,  she  packed  her  trunk,  hid 
ing  jacket  and  photograph  beneath  the  tray,  locked 
it,  and  sat  down  to  wait.  In  the  wreck  of  her  over 
turned  altar  and  shattered  filial  ideals,  beyond  and 
above  the  desolation  of  her  cruel  disenchantment, 
rose  one  image  inflexible,  incorruptible,  absolutely 
invulnerable  to  temptation,  that  involved  sacrifice  of 
duty.  As  the  mist  cleared,  strange  new  valuations 
loomed,  and  she  thought  of  lines  that  limned  his  por 
trait:  - 

"  Loyalty  is  still  the  same, 

Whether  it  win  or  lose  the  game." 

For  years  he  had  been  entirely  hers.  Now  she 
lost  him  hopelessly.  His  contempt  could  spare  no 
room  for  pity;  her  presence  infuriated  him. 

He  had  lifted  her  to  a  sacred  niche  where  love  and 
reverence  jealously  guarded  her,  and  she  had  hurled 
herself  down  into  the  mire  of  the  market  place. 

"  For  sale !  Any  man  could  have  bought  you,  body 
and  soul." 

The  words  branded  her.  They  seemed  burned  in 
by  the  scorn  flaming  in  his  eyes,  and  she  thought  of 
the  red  letter  on  Hester  Prynne's  breast.  The  world 
should  never  know,  but  she  would  carry  that  scar  to 
her  grave. 

Soon  the  clock  struck  three,  and  simultaneously  the 
outcry  of  the  dogs  announced  their  master's  return. 


A  SPECKLED  BIRD  333 

Hat  and  gloves  in  hand,  Eglah  went  down  to  the 
drawing-room,  and  caught  a  glimpse  of  Mr.  Herriott 
hurrying  toward  the  gardener's  cottage.  Later  he 
went  to  his  own  rooms,  and  when  dinner  was  an 
nounced  apologized  for  unavoidable  delay. 

He  had  reined  himself  in  with  a  grip  so  tight  that 
the  only  evidence  of  suppressed  excitement  was  the 
feverish,  steady  gleam  in  his  eyes.  He  talked  of  Mrs. 
St.  Clair,  of  Father  Temple,  of  Trix  Stapleton,  whom 
he  should  see  for  a  moment  in  New  York. 

During  a  brief  lull  in  the  conversation,  Eglah  said : 

"  I  found  your  mother's  portrait,  which  you  asked 
me  to  look  at.  In  an  extraordinary  degree  you  re 
semble  her." 

"  Thank  you.  That  is  a  compliment  I  value.  It  is 
indeed  a  pity  she  could  not  have  endowed  me  with 
the  patience  and  amiability  that  so  endeared  her  to 
all  who  knew  her." 

Very  soon  the  moment  came  for  parting  words,  and 
she  went  down  to  the  carriage  step,  leaving  him  with 
the  servants  clustered  in  the  hall,  but  Amos  Lea  was 
not  visible.  Mr.  Herriott  handed  Eglah  to  the  back 
seat,  and  for  a  moment  stooped  to  speak  to  and  pat 
the  head  of  each  dog.  As  he  entered  the  carriage 
and  seated  himself  opposite  his  companion,  slamming 
the  door  as  signal  to  the  coachman,  the  housemaid 
threw  up  her  hands  and  ran  down  the  steps. 

"  Please,  sir,  Mr.  Herriott,  may  I  speak  to  you?  " 

He  put  out  his  head. 

"What  is  the  matter?" 

"  The  silk  jacket,  sir.  You  told  me  to  carry  it  to 
Mr.  Lea,  but,  sir,  I  can't  find  it.  You  must  have  put 
it  in  your  trunk." 


334  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

"  No,  I  wore  it  this  morning  after  the  trunks  were 
locked  and  strapped." 

"  Indeed,  sir,  I  have  searched  your  rooms  most 
faithful,  and  that  jacket  is  not  there." 

"  You  will  find  it  somewhere  in  the  den.  Good-bye, 
Delia.  Drive  on,  Rivers." 

The  house  fronted  the  lake,  and  the  carriage  road 
at  the  rear  wound  through  thick  shrubbery,  groups 
of  deodars,  and  a  lane  of  lilacs  in  full  bloom.  The 
iron  gates  were  open,  and  against  one  marble  pillar 
Amos  Lea  leaned.  As  the  horses  dashed  through,  he 
motioned  to  the  driver.  At  sight  of  him  Mr.  Her- 
riott's  face  changed,  softened;  he  sprang  out  and 
walked  back  a  few  yards. 

Through  a  glass  in  the  curtain  Eglah  saw  the  old 
man's  brawny  hands  laid  on  Mr.  Herriott's  shoulders, 
and  the  harsh  voice  shook. 

"  Oh,  lad !  May  the  Lord  bless  you  and  keep  you 
in  the  hollow  of  His  hand,  and  bring  your  body  safely 
back,  and  save  your  dear  soul  from  the  snares  of  the 
ungodly  that  go  down  to  the  icy  sea  in  ships.  Wher 
ever  you  wander  Susan's  eyes  will  follow  you  until 
you  reach  that  rest  where  there  is  no  more  night." 

"  It  hurts  me  sorely  to  say  good-bye  to  you,  Amos. 
For  my  sake  take  extra  care  of  yourself.  Let  up  on 
moles  and  slugs  and  shotbugs  in  damp  weather. 
Look  after  my  dogs  for  me,  and  be  good  to  Aunt 
Trina  when  she  comes  for  her  visit.  One  thing  more, 
be  sure  the  tower  lamp  is  lighted  every  night.  When 
I  am  groping  and  stumbling  in  Arctic  darkness,  it 
will  cheer  me  to  know  that  light  is  shining  over  a 
black,  stormy  lake.  Now  I  must  go.  I  hope  God  will 
keep  you  strong  and  well.  Good-bye." 

Then  the  voice  sank  so  low  a  few  additional  words 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  335 

were  inaudible  to  those  beyond  the  gate.  He  took 
the  gardener's  hands,  shook  them  warmly,  and  re-en 
tered  the  carriage.  As  he  did  so  Eglah  pointed  toShe 
seat  beside  her,  which  he  accepted,  and  she  saw  his 
eyes  were  misty. 

For  some  moments  neither  spoke. 

"  Aunt  Trina  is  fond  of  the  old  place,  and  I  have 
asked  her  to  spend  July  here,  with  any  friends  she 
may  wish  to  bring.  She  and  Amos  spar  like  prize 
fighters  over  immersion  and  close  communion,  and 
he  brands  her  extreme  ritualism  '  idolatry  rank  as  the 
groves  of  Baal/  ' 

He  looked  at  his  watch,  and  called  to  the  coach 
man: 

"  Rivers,  we  have  very  little  time  to  spare." 

His  closed  right  hand  rested  on  his  knee,  and  Eglah 
laid  hers  upon  it. 

"  Since  I  was  a  little  girl  you  have  been  my  faith 
ful,  sympathizing,  patient  friend,  and  now  I  can  not 
bear  that  you  should  leave  me  without  uttering  one 
kind  word  of  forgiveness  for  the  great  wrong  I  realize 
at  last  that  I  have  done  you." 

"  Eglah,  for  God's  sake  don't  open  that  door,  which 
shuts  out — what  I  can  not  discuss  again  with  you, 
because  I  must  not  wound  you." 

She  noticed  the  suppressed  pant  in  his  voice,  and 
as  he  did  not  respond  to  the  touch  of  her  hand,  her 
slender  fingers  crept  between  and  twined  around  his. 

"  Mr.  Herriott,  when  you  come  home " 

"  I  shall  try  not  to  come  home." 

"  If  I  promise  you  shall  never  see  me  there, 
perhaps  that  assurance  may  tempt  you  back.  You 
are  casting  me  out  of  your  life,  and  I  have  no  right 
to  complain,  but  I  wish  to  say  that  I  hope  you  will 


336  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

have  no  fear  for  the  name  you  gave  irrevocably  into 
my  keeping." 

'  You  bear  my  name,  my  father's  name,  but  I  am 
very  sure  your  little  white  hands  will  hold  it  clean, 
pure,  and  sacred.  Should  you  invoke  legal  aid  to  free 
you  from  merely  nominal  matrimonial  bonds,  I  prefer 
you  should  then  resume  your  father's  name.  If  you 
choose  to  make  no  change,  and  I  do  not  return,  the 
name  will  die  with  you,  and  I  believe  you  will  guard 
it  as  you  would  the  Grail." 

Unconsciously  his  hand  tightened  on  hers,  until 
the  edge  of  the  ring  cut  into  her  finger. 

"  Mr.  Herriott,  you  will  write  to  me?  " 

He  shook  his  head. 

Looking  intently  at  her,  he  noticed  the  deep  blue 
shadows  under  her  eyes,  and  the  first  tears  he  had 
ever  seen  her  shed  rolled  slowly  over  her  worn  face. 

"  Unless  my  letters  were  hollow  shams,  they  would 
only  distress  you,  and  all  future  annoyance  I  wish  to 
avoid.  Silence  is  the  only  possible  peace." 

At  this  moment  the  carriage  stopped,  and  he 
looked  out. 

"  Why  do  you  lag,  Rivers?  " 

"  A  train,  sir.    Switch  engine  and  gravel  cars." 

"  Drive  around  it." 

"  I  can't,  sir.  Red  signal  just  ahead  of  the  horse's 
nose." 

Mr.  Herriott  stepped  out,  and  walked  for  some 
minutes  up  and  down  the  embankment.  Then  the 
train  pulled  out,  and  when  he  re-entered  his  carnage 
he  took  the  front  seat. 

"  I  sent  a  telegram  to  your  father,  which  ought  to 
reach  him  in  Washington,  telling  him  the  number 
of  your  train,  and  your  hotel  in  Philadelphia ;  and  I 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  337 

hope  your  return  journey  will  prove  more  agreeable 
than  your  trip  with  me.  If  any  necessity  should  arise 
that  would  require  you  to  communicate  with  me,  you 
will  find  this  card  in  the  outside  pocket  of  your 
satchel,  but  the  address  means  only  that  letters  will 
be  forwarded  to  Upernavik.  When  we  leave  there  no 
mail  will  reach  us." 

The  carriage  drew  up  to  the  platform,  and  Mr.  Her- 
riott  assisted  Eglah  into  the  train.  With  her  wraps 
and  satchel  he  preceded  her  to  the  drawing-room. 

"  This  is  more  comfortable  than  the  one  you  occu 
pied  two  days  ago,  and  I  trust  you  can  rest  well. 
Here  are  your  tickets  and  check.  This  train  is  almost 
ready  to  start,  and  mine  moves  in  ten  minutes.  In 
parting  I  make  only  one  request.  I  ask  you  now  to 
put  me  out  of  your  life.  I  want  you  to  forget  me, 
and  be  happy  with  your  father.  Good-bye." 

His  face  was  white,  and  the  expression  of  his  eyes 
she  never  forgot. 

He  had  extended  his  hand,  but  the  horrible  possi 
bilities  of  the  future  swept  all  proud  scruples  aside, 
and  she  put  her  arms  around  his  neck,  clinging  des 
perately  to  him. 

"  Mr.  Noel,  you  shall  never,  never,  be  out  of  my 
life!  I  will  always  belong  to  my — own — Mr.  Noel." 

The  check  rein  snapped. 

He  clasped — strained  her  against  his  breast,  and 
she  felt  the  furious  beating  of  his  heart.  It  was  barely 
a  moment.  Gently  he  unwound  her  arms,  put  her 
quickly  aside,  and  left  her. 


22 


CHAPTER    XXIII 

The  resumption  of  cordially  affectionate  relations 
between  Judge  Kent  and  his  daughter  was  marked 
on  her  part  by  increased  tenderness  and  deference, 
on  his  by  demonstrative  caresses  particularly  con 
spicuous  after  years  of  alienation.  His  exactions 
upon  her  time  became  despotic;  he  was  dissatisfied 
•when  she  was  out  of  his  sight,  and  if  within  reach 
his  hand  usually  rested  on  her  arm  or  shoulder.  The 
paramount  aim  of  her  life  was  attained.  She  was 
assured  that  she  reigned  supreme  in  her  coveted 
kingdom — his  heart.  Freed  from  dread  of  public  ex 
posure,  his  spirits  rebounded,  and  his  jovial,  self- 
indulgent  nature  enjoyed  basking  once  more  before 
the  fire  of  financial  prosperity,  exulted  in  the  con 
sciousness  that  at  last  the  long  desired  Maurice  for 
tune  was  at  his  command.  Eglah  wondered  that  from 
the  hour  he  met  her  in  Philadelphia  he  asked  no  ques 
tions  concerning  her  bridal  journey — no  explanation 
of  her  unexpectedly  hurried  return. 

He  sedulously  avoided  all  mention  of  Mr.  Herriott, 
•except  to  rail  at  the  imbecility  of  Arctic  explorers, 
and  suspecting  that  he  smarted  from  the  humiliating 
knowledge  that  his  son-in-law  had  possessed  proofs 
of  his  guilt,  she  welcomed  silence  as  balm  for  her  sore 
heart.  From  the  day  of  her  return  to  Nutwood 

she  severed  every  social  tie  linking  her  with  Y . 

Of  visiting  she  made  an  end,  all  invitations  were 
declined,  and  she  was  seen  only  at  church,  beside  her 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  339 

father.  They  rode,  drove,  walked  together.  On  his 
fishing  jaunts  she  read  while  he  wandered  from  pool 
to  pool,  and  made  tea  for  him  when,  tired  and  thirsty, 
he  came  back  to  a  shaded  spot  where  she  waited. 
Now  and  then  a  few  of  his  friends  spent  an  evening  in 
the  billiard  room,  or  played  cards  in  the  library,  and 
discussed  Republican  policies.  At  night  Eliza  Mitch 
ell  usually  brought  her  sewing  to  the  table,  Judge 
Kent  smoked  in  his  easy  chair,  and  Eglah  arranged 
the  chessboard  at  his  elbow,  or  read  aloud  from  some 
volume  he  had  selected.  It  rarely  happened  that  she 
received  his  good-night  kiss  until  she  had  played  a 
nocturne  or  an  etude  for  which  he  asked.  He  had  an 
ardent,  sensuous  love  of  beauty  in  color,  form,  sound ; 
impassioned  poetry,  deep,  rich  melody,  and  subtle 
harmonies  entranced  him,  dimmed  his  fine,  eloquent 
eyes.  His  musical  taste  had  been  cultivated  in  ac 
cordance  with  classical  standards,  and  while  his 
daughter's  proficiency  was  not  extraordinary,  she 
played  skilfully  and  with  a  tenderly  magnetic  touch 
that  justified  his  compliment :  "  My  daughter  has 
tears  in  her  pretty  fingers." 

When  a  proud,  reticent,  beautiful  woman  suddenly 
takes  an  unusual  and  totally  unexpected  step,  abro 
gating  fashionable  conventions — when,  keeping  her 
own  counsel,  she  disdains  explanation  and  shuts  her 
self  away  from  curious  questioners — the  hounds  of 
gossip  are  unleashed,  and  beagles  and  fox-terriers  fol 
low  in  full  cry.  Outraged  Y hummed  like  a 

swarming  hive. 

"  Married  without  a  sign  of  a  trousseau,  on  a  few 
hours'  notice,  with  barely  time  to  get  a  license,  a 
ring  and  a  minister,  and  to  pack  her  trunk !  Dis 
graceful!" 


340  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

Rumors  of  Mr.  Harriott's  wealth  swelled  to  fabu 
lous  proportions.  A  sister  of  Dr.  Burbridge,  whose 
young  cousin  was  employed  in  the  office  of  the  tele 
graph  company,  plied  him  with  questions,  until  in 
discreetly  and  reluctantly  he  confided  to  her  that  two 
telegrams  sent  by  the  groom  showed  that  he  had 

not  come  to  Y intending  marriage;  whereupon 

she  set  afloat  information  which  merely  increased 
the  complexity  of  the  problem.  Judge  Kent  had 
been  so  long  the  community  scapegoat  that  in  the 
final  public  solution  and  adjustment  of  disreputa 
ble  responsibility,  an  additional  load  of  selfish,  wily 
iniquity  was  laid  on  his  sin-stained  shoulders.  By 
cunning  chicanery  he  had  forced  his  daughter's  sud 
den  marriage,  hoping  that  Arctic  dangers,  often 
fatal,  would  soon  make  her  a  widow  dowered  with 
millions. 

Even  the  few  who  witnessed  the  ceremony,  and  re 
called  Eglah's  inscrutable  white  face,  understood  as 
little  as  the  resentful  uninvited,  yet  when  questioned 
they  loyally  maintained  reserve. 

Bishop  Vivian,  Mr.  Whitfield,  and  the  Egglestons 
warmly  defended  the  girl,  whom  secretly  they  pitied, 
but  society  pilloried  her. 

"  She  was  shamelessly  mercenary,  absolutely  de 
void  of  womanly  delicacy,  and  a  shocking  disgrace 
to  her  poor  mother's  family." 

Henceforth  the  anti-Kent  social  element  in  Y 

resolved  itself  into  a  vigilance  committee  to  watch 
her  behavior  as  a  married  woman. 

Into  the  whirlpool  of  tittle-tattle  Mrs.  Mitchell 
wisely  abstained  from  plunging.  Her  own  informa 
tion  was  too  meagre,  her  uneasiness  concerning 
Eglah's  stubborn  silence  and  inexplicable  manner  too 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  341 

profound  to  admit  of  discussion,  even  in  defence.  She 
staid  at  home,  bided  her  time,  and  held  her  peace. 
Moreover,  she  was  wrestling  with  conscientious 
scruples  regarding  her  duty  in  withholding  from  Eg- 
lah  some  disquieting  facts  known  only  to  herself. 

The  second  night  after  his  daughter's  departure, 
Judge  Kent  had  indulged  in  stimulants  to  an  unprec 
edented  and  alarming  extent.  With  a  decanter  of 
brandy  at  his  elbow,  he  dozed  in  his  arm-chair  until 
roused  by  Aaron,  who  delivered  a  telegram.  Eliza 
was  going  upstairs  to  her  own  room,  when  the  boy 
rang  the  bell  and  handed  in  the  message. 

"  Lock  up  the  house,  Aaron.  I  think  the  judge 
is  sleepy  and  will  soon  go  to  bed." 

An  hour  later  she  sat  reading  her  Bible,  and  heard 
a  sound  as  of  some  heavy  object  falling.  Snatching 
her  lamp,  she  went  swiftly  to  the  library.  The  over 
turned  decanter  was  slowly  emptying  itself  on  the 
table,  and  Judge  Kent  lay  on  the  floor,  his  head  rest 
ing  against  the  cushioned  seat  of  his  chair.  Evidently 
he  had  risen,  slipped  on  the  polished  floor,  dropped 
the  decanter,  and  lost  consciousness. 

His  face  was  purple,  his  breathing  stertorous. 
Holding  his  head,  she  pushed  the  chair  back  and  laid 
him  flat  on  the  floor. 

Was  it  apoplectic  seizure  or  intoxication?  Her 
inexperience  justified  no  independent  action,  yet 
if  drunkenness  explained  existing  conditions,  she 
shrank  from  publishing  the  disgrace  that  would  mor 
tally  wound  Eglah. 

Bathing  his  head  and  face,  she  administered  such 
restoratives  as  she  possessed,  and  loosened  his  vest 
and  collar.  Finally  it  seemed  necessary  to  summon 
Aaron  and  send  Oliver  for  the  doctor,  but  as  she 


342  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

rose  to  ring  the  bell  Judge  Kent  opened  his  eyes.  A 
dark,  turbid  red  still  stained  his  face,  but  his  respira 
tion  was  less  labored. 

"  Don't  move.  After  a  little  I  can  get  Oliver  to 
help  you  into  bed." 

"I  had  a  fall?" 

His  utterance  was  thick,  his  articulation  indistinct, 
and  he  hiccoughed. 

"  Yes,  sir.  You  are  better,  I  think,  and  if  you  will 
only  lie  still  a  while  you  can  soon  be  made  comforta 
ble  in  your  own  room." 

She  went  into  the  adjoining  apartment,  saw  that  the 
bed  had  been  prepared,  and  a  lamp  lighted.  When 
she  returned  he  had  struggled  into  a  sitting  posture, 
his  arms  clasped  around  his  knees.  She  sat  down 
and  waited.  On  the  table  lay  the  brandy-stained 
telegram  sent  by  Mr.  Herriott  after  he  had  burned 
the  papers  at  Carville.  She  picked  it  up,  read  it  twice, 
and  laid  it  down. 

"  Mrs.  Mitchell,  if  you  will  help  me  I  can  get  into 
a  chair." 

She  took  his  extended  hands,  and  he  rose  slowly, 
staggered  against  her,  and  sank  into  his  chair. 
Five  minutes  later  he  slept,  but  gradually  his  face  re 
sumed  its  usual  color.  Eliza  brought  a  basin  of 
water  from  the  bedroom,  washed  away  the  brandy 
streaks  from  the  floor  and  table,  and  with  a  silk  hand 
kerchief  dried  and  polished  the  fine  old  mahogany, 
already  whitening  from  its  alcoholic  bath.  She  went 
to  an  open  window  and  waited.  The  night  was  balmy, 
and  loitering,  thievish  puffs  of  air  came  laden  with 
rifled  sweetness  from  multitudinous  lips  of  forest  and 
garden  bloom.  Far  away  the  muffled  monody  of  the 
river  falls  rose  towards  the  stars,  whose  light  wove 


A  SPECKLED  BIRD  343 

a  golden  braid  across  the  water's  quivering  crystal 
plunge  over  granite  crags.  In  the  dense  shadow  of 
the  walnut  grove  a  squirrel  barked,  and  from  their  red 
cedar  covert  the  game  cocks  shrilled  midnight. 

After  two  hours  Judge  Kent  awoke  and  groaned. 
Mrs.  Mitchell  handed  him  a  goblet  of  iced  water, 
which  he  drained. 

"  Shall  I  go  and  rouse  Oliver,  or  would  you  pre 
fer  Aaron  to  assist  you  ?  " 

"  I  don't  want  either.  If  you  will  help  me  over  this 
infernally  slippery  floor  to  my  bedroom  sofa,  I  can 
manage." 

"  You  do  not  wish  the  doctor  sent  for?  " 

"  No." 

She  took  his  arm,  guided  his  unsteady  steps  to  the 
sofa,  arranged  a  pillow,  and  unlaced  his  shoes.  Very 
soon  his  deep,  regular  breathing  assured  her  the 
worst  had  passed.  Was  it  the  brandy,  or  the  telegram 
or  both  ?  What  were  the  "  Ely  Twiggs  "  papers,  of 
which  Eglah  must  know  nothing,  and  why  was  she 
coming  home  immediately,  instead  of  going  to  Syd 
ney,  or  at  least  as  far  as  Boston?  Could  Mr.  Herriott 
have  been  a  party  to  some  scheme  whereby  she  was 
entrapped  into  that  sudden  marriage? 

At  three  o'clock  she  looked  from  the  library  door 
at  the  sleeping  form  on  the  sofa,  and  with  anxiety 
allayed,  went  upstairs  to  her  room.  Awaiting  a  cue, 
she  made  no  inquiries  when  he  appeared  at  late 
breakfast,  and  with  characteristic  aplomb  his  only 
reference  to  the  previous  evening  was  an  apology 
for  troubling  her  to  give  him  a  third  cup  of  tea. 

"  My  head  is  a  trifle  shaky  from  the  jar  of  that  fall. 
Men  of  my  age  and  weight  can  not  afford  to  sit 


344  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

down  so  heavily  on  bare  boards,  and  I  shall  insist 
on  matting  when  the  carpets  are  taken  up." 

The  receipt  of  the  telegram  requesting  him  to  meet 
his  daughter  in  Philadelphia  was  followed  by  hurried 
preparations  for  departure,  and  Mrs.  Mitchell  ven 
tured  to  expostulate. 

"  Judge  Kent,  if  you  realized  how  serious  was  your 
attack  in  the  library,  you  would  not  risk  the  impru 
dence  of  a  railway  journey.  You  ought  to  see  your 
doctor.  Let  me  go  and  meet  Eglah  in  Philadelphia." 

His  bloodshot  eyes  twinkled  as  they  met  hers. 

"Doctor?  Absurd!  Attack?  You  mean  that  un 
lucky  slip  ?  It  amounts  to  nothing  except  a  stubborn 
stiffness  on  the  side  where  I  struck  those  diabolical 
sand-scoured  boards.  I  particularly  desire  the  mat 
ter  should  not  be  mentioned  to  my  daughter,  who 
would  reproach  herself  severely  for  that '  dry-rubbed  ' 
floor  she  knows  I  detest  as  a  cat  does  swimming." 

During  his  absence  a  cabinet  maker  was  summoned 
and  removed  the  ugly  grey  stains  on  Eglah's  favorite 
piece  of  old  claw-footed  mahogany.  For  a  time  the 
incident  seemed  forgotten  by  all  save  the  quiet,  silent 
woman  keeping  watch  for  the  consequences. 

A  few  days  after  Eglah's  return  she  sat  at  a  window 
in  her  bedroom,  noting  the  deepening  glory  of  the 
west,  where  the  sun  was  just  sinking  behind  purple 
hills.  It  was  the  date  on  which  the  "  Ahvungah  " 
would  leave  Sydney  and  begin  her  voyage  to  the 
world  of  eternal  ice. 

The  day  had  seemed  one  of  doom,  as  if  set  for  a 
funeral,  and  the  going  down  of  the  sun  brought  other 
shadows — darker  than  the  mists  that  would  soon 
swim  under  the  stars.  If  Mr.  Herriott  had  forgiven 
her  she  might  have  gone  to  Cape  Breton,  could  have 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  345 

been  with  him  till  the  last  moment.  Now  he  was 
upon  the  ocean,  and  only  God  knew  the  future  that 
looked  so  black,  so  spectral,  so  full  of  desolation. 

Mrs.  Mitchell  opened  the  door  and  handed  her  a 
package. 

"  Dearie,  the  express  messenger  brought  this,  and 
I  signed  for  you." 

She  went  back  to  her  own  room  and  resumed  her 
darning. 

The  parcel  was  addressed  in  Mr.  Herriott's  hand 
writing:  "  Mrs.  Noel  Herriott.  Care  Hon.  Allison 
Kent."  A  wave  of  color  flowed  over  Eglah's  pale 
face  as  she  looked  at  her  new  name,  and  felt  assured 
his  eyes  had  gleamed  with  scorn  as  he  penned  it.  A 
pass-book  and  check-book  of  a  New  York  bank,  with 
note  from  the  cashier,  were  the  first  objects  that  met 
her  eye,  and  were  instantly  thrown  aside;  then  a 
square  box,  elaborately  sealed.  When  she  removed 
the  wrapping  paper  a  red  morocco  case  appeared, 
and  around  it  was  tied  a  note  without  a  personal 
address. 

"  Just  before  my  father  died  he  gave  me  two  rings; 
one  the  little  gold  band  that  hangs  on  my  watch  chain 
— my  mother's  wedding  ring.  The  other  a  stone  he 
had  given  her  on  the  day  of  their  betrothal.  When 
he  laid  them  in  my  hand,  he  said :  '  Wear  one  always. 
If  you  should  ever  marry,  give  the  other,  with  my 
blessing,  to  the  woman  who  bears  our  name/  Be 
cause  it  was  his  wish,  I  simply  obey  his  injunction, 
and  trust  the  ring  sacred  from  my  mother's  touch 
will  grace  the  hand  it  was  once  my  fondest  hope,  my 
most  ardent  wish  to  claim.  This  should  reach  you 
the  day  we  leave  Sydney.  The  sham  is  ended.  Your 
freedom  is  now  complete.  Do  not  hesitate  to  use  it 


346  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

in  any  way  that  will  restore  the  happiness  you  so  un 
wisely,  so  rashly  imperilled.  If  possible,  your  path  in 
future  shall  be  spared  my  shadow.  Good-bye. 

"  HERRIOTT." 

The  words  stung  like  a  scourge,  and  involuntarily 
she  covered  her  face  with  her  hands.  Time  merely 
increased  his  bitterness;  there  was  nothing  more 
for  her  to  hope  or  expect.  He  intended  perpetual 
separation. 

Mechanically  she  lifted  the  ring  from  its  velvet  bed. 
It  was  a  superb  diamond,  marked  on  the  inside  of  the 
gold  band,  "  Fergus  to  Una."  The  circle  fitted  only 
one  ringer,  that  wearing  the  wedding  ring,  and  was 
too  broad  to  share  it.  She  replaced  the  jewel  in  its 
case  and  closed  it.  A  little  later,  when  Mrs.  Mitch 
ell  came  in,  the  stony,  despairing  face  of  the  girl 
startled  her.  She  ran  forward  and  took  her  in  her 
arms. 

"  What  is  the  matter?  You  have  shut  me  out  long 
enough;  now  I  will  know.  You  have  heard  from  Mr. 
Herriott?" 

"  Yes.  He  sent  me  a  check-book  for  money  on 
deposit  and  a  ring  that  had  been  his  mother's." 

"What  are  you  breaking  your  heart  over?  O 
my  baby,  don't  keep  your  trouble  from  me !  The 
dreadful  night  you  went  away  you  asked  me  not  to 
question  you,  but  I  must;  I  can't  bear  the  sight  of 
your  dear  face.  Nobody  loves  you  as  I  do,  and  you 
know  you  can  trust  me." 

Eglah  was  silent  a  moment,  and  Eliza  felt  her 
shiver. 

"  Yes,  I  am  sure  your  love  is  the  truest  I  shall  ever 
possess,  and  I  trust  you;  but  some  things  are  like  red 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  347 

coals,  and  you  shrink  from  handling  them.  Suppose 
you  had  wounded  your  Robert  so  deeply,  so  sorely 
he  never  forgave  you,  would  you  wish  to  drag  the 
horror  up  and  talk  of  the  details?  Put  yourself  in  my 
place." 

"  I  cannot  understand,  because  Mr.  Herriott  loves 
you  so  devotedly  he  would  forgive  anything  you 
might  have  done." 

"  You  do  not  know  him;  neither  did  I  before  I 
left  home.  I  made  the  mistake  of  presuming  too  far 
on  his  love.  I  wronged  him,  and  he  will  never  for 
give  me." 

"  I  refuse  to  believe  you  wronged  him." 
"  Yes,  I  did  him  a  great  wrong.  I  did  not  intend 
to  wound  him,  and  when  I  realized  all  that  followed, 
it  was  too  late  for  remedy.  I  don't  wish  to  say  any 
thing  more,  even  to  you.  The  thought  of  the  red 
coals  scorches  my  heart.  If  the  time  should  ever 
come  when  I  feel  I  can  talk  freely,  you  will  not  need 
to  question.  Until  then,  love  me  and  be  patient,  and 
leave  me  to  myself.  To-day  Mr.  Herriott  is  at  sea — 
gone  on  his  long  voyage.  O  Ma-Lila!  Ma-Lila, 
pray  to  God  that  he  may  never  come  home !  Or  that 
if  he  lives,  I  may  die  soon." 

"  You  foolish,  wicked  girl !  Are  you  crazy?  " 
"  I  have  been,  but  my  late  tenants  have  gone  into 
the  swine.  A  week  ago  they  possessed  me,  and  wild 
work  followed.  Since  their  departure  I  find  it  im 
possible  to  regain  my  old  self.  I  have,  after  frightful 
nightmare,  awakened  a  very  repentant,  an  exceed 
ingly  miserable  woman,  but  the  fault  was  all  mine. 
Mr.  Herriott  was  not  to  blame.  He  is  even  nobler 
than  you  know,  nobler  than  I  dreamed;  but  I 
wounded,  injured  him  past  pardon;  and  now  I 


348  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

purpose  to  bear  in  silence,  and  as  best  I  may,  a 
sorrow  that  I  alone  have  brought  upon  myself.  No 
one  can  help  me.  I  only  ask  to  be  spared  all  ques 
tions,  all  reference  to  my  marriage.  Father  is  calling 
me.  Will  you  give  him  his  tea?  Ask  him  to  excuse 
me.  Good-night.  I  wish  to  be  alone  until  breakfast." 

When  Eliza  went  downstairs  next  morning,  Eglah 
was  coming  from  the  side  garden  with  both  hands 
full  of  dewy  roses  for  the  table  vase,  and,  having  lis 
tened  until  two  o'clock  to  the  restless  footsteps  in  the 
room  next  to  her  own,  the  foster-mother  glanced 
anxiously  at  her. 

The  cold,  passionless  repose  that  comes  only  after 
a  fierce  and  vital  struggle  had  settled  upon  her  white, 
worn  face,  and  the  woman  who  knew  her  best  could 
not  determine  whether  it  meant  conquest  or  sur 
render. 

As  summer  advanced,  Eglah  noticed  the  frequency 
with  which  her  father  fell  asleep  in  the  midst  of  con 
versation,  and  when  he  dozed  one  day  with  a  bowl 
of  sherbet  in  his  hand,  she  became  alarmed  and  sent 
for  Dr.  Plympton,  an  old  friend  of  Judge  Kent's,  who 

had  moved  South  and  settled  in  Y during  the 

dismal  days  of  carpet  bag  rule. 

He  gave  him  tonics,  diet  regimen  on  which  he  laid 
much  stress,  and  ordered  the  family  away  to  certain 
springs  in  a  distant  State.  Having  secured  a  cottage, 
Eglah  avoided  the  hotel  and  maintained  complete  se 
clusion.  Her  father  keenly  enjoyed  the  change,  and 
gradually  the  tendency  to  drowse  was  less  apparent, 
but  the  prohibition  of  alcoholic  drinks  fretted  him, 
and  that  which  was  tabooed  at  the  cottage  was  allur 
ingly  accessible  at  the  hotel. 

When  the  season  closed,  he  and  Eglah  decided  to 


A  SPECKLED  BIRD  349 

stop  en  route  for  a  day,  to  pay  their  long  promised 
visit  to  Calvary  House. 

As  Mrs.  Mitchell  could  not  be  persuaded  to  enter 
"  an  Episcopal  monkish  institution  "  of  which  she  dis 
approved  so  vigorously,  she  went  back  alone  to  Nut 
wood  and  busied  herself  with  household  preparations 
for  winter. 

When  the  judge  and  his  daughter  reached  home, 
Dr.  Plympton  expressed  himself  much  pleased  with 
improved  conditions  which  Mrs.  Mitchell  could  not 
discover,  and  Eglah's  apprehensions  were  allayed. 
Her  father's  increasing  dependence  upon  her  touched 
and  cheered  her  inexpressibly,  and  for  his  sake  she 
diligently  assisted  him  in  work  that  forced  her 
thoughts  into  a  new  channel.  An  important  appro 
priation  bill,  in  which  Judge  Kent's  native  State  was 
much  interested,  would  be  presented  to  Congress 
about  the  middle  of  December,  or  soon  after  the  holi 
day  recess,  and  he  had  been  requested  by  old  friends 
and  constituents  to  address  the  Senate  committee, 
advocating  a  favorable  report.  The  collection  and  ar 
rangement  of  necessary  statistics  kept  her  busy  at  his 
side,  and  when  the  last  type-written  page  was  added 
to  the  pile  at  his  elbow,  he  patted  her  hand  fondly 
and  complimented  her  useful  accuracy. 

Rejoicing  in  the  accomplishment  of  their  tedious 
task,  the  trap  was  ordered,  and  father  and  daughter 
drove  until  the  dinner  hour. 

She  noticed  he  dozed  twice  while  she  talked,  al 
though  when  they  reached  home  he  seemed  as  well 
as  usual,  humming  a  gay  little  Sicilian  song  as  he 
divested  himself  of  overcoat  and  muffler.  It  had  been 
a  perfect  autumn  day,  crisp,  crystalline.  The  deep, 
vivid  yellow  of  the  great  undulating  mass  of  walnut 


350  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

foliage  hung  against  the  western  sky  like  cloth  of 
gold  curtains  around  a  porphyry  shrine,  above  which 
Venus  burned  as  ministering  taper.  With  her  cheek 
pressed  to  the  window  pane  in  the  library,  Eglah 
watched  the  fading  after-glow,  and  her  hands 
clutched  each  other.  This  was  the  day  when  from 
the  iron-bound,  ice-sheathed  fiords  of  Smith's  Sound 
the  sun  disappeared.  The  long  Polar  night  had  set 
in.  Would  Mr.  Herriott  ever  see  the  sun  again  ? 

She  had  procured  all  books  written  in  English  that 
related  to  Arctic  travel,  and  in  the  sanctuary  of  her 
own  room  prepared,  from  an  almanac  and  from  ex 
plorer's  diaries,  a  calendar,  noting  the  length  of  each 
day,  the  coming  of  the  moon,  the  date  of  shortest  twi 
light,  the  falling  of  total  darkness.  Mr.  Herriott's 
voyage  began  in  May;  no  tidings  had  reached  her. 
She  expected  none,  but  her  lips  moved :  "  Oh,  God, 
keep  him  in  safety  through  the  awful  night !  " 

The  dreary  vision  of  her  imagination  contrasted 
sharply  with  the  luxurious  aspect  of  the  library,  where 
a  fire  of  oak  logs  glowed  beyond  the  marble  hearth.  A 
crimson  velvet  carpet  covered  the  floor,  and  warm 
winter  draperies  enhanced  the  atmosphere  of  comfort. 
On  the  table  an  oval  cut-glass  basket  held  great  clus 
ters  of  orange  chrysanthemums;  not  the  huge,  soli 
tary,  odorless  globes  now  so  popular  in  cities,  but 
thickly  studded,  fragrant  branches  that  bloom  no 
where  with  such  lavish  sweetness  as  in  old  Southern 
gardens. 

Mrs.  Mitchell  brightened  the  lamp  and  began  to 
match  the  squares  of  a  calico  "  rising  sun  "  quilt  she 
was  making  as  her  Christmas  present  to  the  Metho 
dist  parsonage.  Judge  Kent  leaned  back  in  his  arm 
chair,  his  silver-powdered  head  on  the  red  cushion, 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  351 

good  looking,  debonair,  thoroughly  content;  and  in 
one  hand  he  held  a  richly  gilded  liqueur  glass,  brim 
ming  with  an  emerald  cordial.  Eglah  came  to  his 
side  and  put  her  hand  on  his  wrist. 

"  Father,  Dr.  Plympton  forbids  liqueurs.  Please 
do  not  drink  that." 

"  Only  a  thimbleful  of  creme  de  menthe!  Babies 
take  mint  tea.  Even  Mrs.  Mitchell  drinks  this." 

His  fine  eyes  sparkled  mischievously,  and  he  bowed 
to  her. 

"  No,  sir.  I  make  my  mint  cordial  from  my  own 
garden,  and  I  know  what  is  in  it;  but  you  can't  be 
sure  about  foreign-fangled  mixtures." 

"  I  wish  to  make  sure  that  delicious  gumbo-file  will 
not  give  me  nightmare." 

"  Father,  I  begged  you  not  to  touch  it,  and  you 
had  your  favorite  clam  bouillon  the  doctor  commends 
so  highly." 

"  Bouillon — gumbo-file  ?  '  As  moonlight  unto  sun 
light,  and  as  water  unto  wine/  My  duchess,  don't 
scold.  Your  pretty  mouth  was  made  for  sweeter 
uses.  Kiss  me." 

He  brushed  his  white  mustache  aside,  and  leaning 
down  she  pressed  her  lips  to  his. 

"  Father,  are  you  quite  well  to-night?  " 

"  Quite  well,  and  absolutely  happy.  Now,  give  me 
some  music  to  round  out  and  seal  this  glorious,  per 
fect  day." 

She  opened  the  upright  piano,  and  while  she  played 
one  of  his  favorite  fugues — Handel's  in  E  minor — 
he  kept  time,  swinging  the  tiny,  gilded  glass.  Flicker 
ing  flames  in  the  wide  chimney  were  reflected  on  the 
polished  rosewood  panels  of  the  piano,  and  as  they 
wavered  up  and  down  before  her,  Eglah  thought  of 


352  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

spectral  auroral  fringes  flashing  in  moonless  Polar 
night,  staining  with  prismatic  hues  the  world  of  snow, 
kindling  red  beacons  on  pinnacles  of  immemorial  ice. 

The  fugue  ended,  and  as  her  fingers  left  the  keys  a 
tinkling  crash  caused  her  to  turn  her  head. 

The  liqueur  glass  was  shattered  on  the  floor  and 
Judge  Kent  lay  insensible  in  his  chair. 

Paralysis  appeared  so  complete  that  for  some  days 
Doctors  Plympton  and  Eggleston  entertained  no 
hope;  but  the  sufferer  rallied  surprisingly,  and  while 
his  utterance  was  not  fully  intelligible,  and  he  never 
regained  the  use  of  his  lower  limbs,  he  was  often 
conscious. 

Mrs.  Mitchell  and  the  physicians  would  have  wel 
comed  a  passionate  outbreak  of  the  silent  grief  that 
seemed  to  have  frozen  Eglah,  as,  calm  and  dry-eyed, 
she  ministered  in  the  sick-room  she  rarely  left.  Two 
faithful  men  assisted  in  nursing — one  by  day,  one  by 
night,  because  she  could  not  lift  her  father — and  she 
slept  on  a  cot  beside  him,  or  across  the  foot  of  his 
bed.  She  administered  all  his  medicine,  fed  him  with 
her  own  hands,  caressed,  and  cheered  him. 

After  a  few  weeks,  though  entirely  helpless,  he  was 
able  to  be  dressed  and  lifted  into  a  reclining  rolling- 
chair,  and  when  the  weather  permitted  she  wheeled 
him  around  the  sunny  side  of  the  long  colonnade, 
where  he  usually  fell  asleep.  The  speech  arranged 
so  carefully  for  the  Senate  committee  she  read  again 
critically,  made  a  few  corrections,  and  forwarded  it 
with  a  brief  announcement  of  his  illness  to  the  friends 
who  had  employed  Judge  Kent  to  prepare  and  deliver 
it  in  committee  room. 

Her  stern  self-repression  discouraged  conversation 


A    SPECKLED   B1KD  35$ 

relative  to  the  sufferer,  and  she  buoyed  herself  with 
no  false  hopes. 

A  ripple  of  compassion  stirred  Y ,  and  some 

who  had  criticised  her  most  severely  for  her  haughty 
aloofness — some  whose  sole  grievance  was  her  abso 
lute  devotion  to  an  "  unprincipled  father" — left  cards, 
words  of  sympathy,  and  flowers  for  Mrs.  Herriott. 
Except  the  doctors,  she  saw  no  one  but  Mrs.  Eggles- 
ton  and  Mr.  Whitfield,  who  had  lost  his  wife  a  few 
months  previous.  Bishop  Vivian  had  died  during 
the  summer,  but  her  father's  rector  came  often.  At 
times  the  sick  man's  clouded  mind  seemed  incapable 
of  retaining  any  impression,  but  he  never  failed  to 
respond  to  music,  and  when  his  chair  was  rolled  close 
to  the  piano  and  Eglah  played  selections  he  loved 
best,  it  comforted  her  to  watch  the  pleased,  contented 
expression  of  the  placid,  handsome  old  face  so  dear 
to  her.  Noticing  how  wan  and  drawn  the  girl's  lips 
were,  the  physicians  urged  Mrs.  Mitchell  to  persuade N 
her  to  drive  or  walk. 

"  No.  I  will  not  lose  sight  of  him  for  a  moment. 
He  is  my  all,  and  what  becomes  of  me  makes  no  dif 
ference.  I  have  but  one  wish  now — to  go  with  him." 

One  bright,  warm  day,  late  in  December,  Judge 
Kent  appeared  surprisingly  better,  though  his  articu 
lation  continued  very  indistinct,  and  his  daughter 
understood  him  best  because  she  closely  watched  his 
lips.  The  doctors  had  made  their  morning  visit,  and, 
wrapped  in  his  dressing-gown,  the  sick  man  asked  to 
be  rolled  into  sunshine. 

Eglah  tucked  a  lap  robe  carefully  about  the  reclin 
ing  form,  and  he  feebly  lifted  the  one  hand  he  could 
move,  and  pointed  to  the  glass  door. 

"  That  way;  not  through  library." 


354  A   SPECKLED  BIRD 

She  unlocked  and  opened  it,  wheeling  the  chair  out 
on  the  colonnade,  and  some  change  in  his  counte 
nance  arrested  her  attention.  Bending  down,  she 
found  tears  on  his  cheeks. 

'  You  opened  this  door  the  day  Herriott  came. 
Because  you  heard  him  tell  me  about  Keith,  you  mar 
ried  him.  You  burned  the  papers — you  saved  me." 

"No,  father;  no!" 

She  fell  on  her  knees  and  hid  her  face  in  his  gown. 

"  You  tried  to  keep  me  from  knowing  you  heard 
Herriott,  but  I  saw  you.  You  married  him  for  my 
sake.  My  blessed  child !  When  I  am  gone,  I  want 
you  to  remember  no  other  man  ever  had  such  a 
daughter.  My  Eglah " 

After  a  moment  he  sighed,  and  with  great  difficulty 
added  slowly: 

"  My  dear,  kiss  me,  and  always — always  you  must 
know — how  precious  you — are,  precious " 

She  kissed  him  twice,  dried  his  cheeks,  and,  as  he 
turned  his  head  on  the  pillow  and  closed  his  eyes, 
she  rolled  him  up  and  down  the  colonnade,  hoping 
that  during  his  nap  he  would  forget.  He  often  slept 
soundly  in  this  way,  soothed  by  the  motion  like  a 
child  in  a  carriage. 

Was  he  laboring  under  some  delusion  of  an  en 
feebled  brain — did  he  dream?  Or  was  it  possible  he 
had  actually  seen  her  leave  his  room  on  her  errand 
of  rescue? 

A  half  hour  later  a  veil  of  cloud  drifted  across  the 
sun,  a  blast  of  wind  leaped  out  of  the  northwest,  and, 
fearing  a  change  of  temperature,  she  turned  the  chair 
toward  the  door  and  wheeled  it  inside. 

Leaning  tenderly  over  the  sleeper,  his  quiet,  cold, 
set  face  told  her  he  had  gone  to  that  bar  of  final  trial 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  355 

where,  in  his  Maker's  infinite  mercy,  only  He  who 
fashions  and  reads  human  hearts  and  sees  entirely 
around  the  circle  of  circumstances,  can  justly  judge. 

A  low,  long-drawn,  quivering  cry,  as  of  some  crea 
ture  mortally  stricken,  summoned  Mrs.  Mitchell,  who 
found  the  girl  huddled  over  the  still  form,  his  grey 
head  lifted  to  her  breast. 

Holding  her  solitary  vigil  that  night  beside  him, 
her  cheek  laid  on  his  shoulder,  her  hand  clasping  his 
icy,  interlocked  fingers,  she  found  a  solace  which  sur 
prised  her  in  the  assurance  that  he  had  known  the 
significance  of  her  sacrifice — that  he  loved  her  better 
in  consequence  of  all  she  had  ventured  and  suffered 
in  his  behalf.  Her  supreme  dread  had  been  his  dis 
covery  of  the  cause  of  her  marriage,  but  now  and  then 
the  scowling  menace  from  which  we  cower,  breaks  in 
smiling,  tender  benediction.  To  love,  that  prompts 
and  sustains  in  crucial  hours  of  self-immolation,  is 
occasionally  added  a  transforming  exaltation  that 
sublimates  the  unworthy  object  for  whom  the  sacri 
fice  is  borne;  and  the  most  pityingly  merciful  of  all 
angels — Death — extinguishes  life  with  one  hand, 
while  the  other  smooths  scars  of  character,  levels 
unlovely  angles,  lifts  shadows  of  sin,  and  gives  to 
memory  that  magic  mantle  whose  halo  never  fades. 

With  singular  and  unnatural  calmness,  Eglah  had 
arranged  the  details  of  the  funeral  service  next  day 
in  her  father's  church.  She  telegraphed  Father  Tem 
ple  to  meet  her  in  Washington  en  route  to  the  North, 
and  asked  Mr.  Whitfield  to  go  with  her  until  her 
cousin  joined  her  on  the  train. 

To  lay  her  father  to  rest  among  his  enemies  in 

Y was  unendurable;  she  would  take  him  to  the 

cemetery  in  his  native  State,  where  his  parents  and 


356  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

sisters  slept,  and  erect  a  monument  there  in  sight  of 
his  constituents  who  had  honored  and  loved  him. 

It  had  grown  very  cold;  there  was  no  fire  in  the 
long  drawing-room,  where  portraits  of  Maurices  and 
Vivians  stared  imperiously  down  at  the  alien  lying 
motionless  under  the  great  cut-glass  chandelier.  Si 
lent  and  tearless  the  girl  kept  watch.  The  under 
taker  had  mentioned  the  date  to  be  inscribed  on  the 
casket  plate,  and  she  recalled  her  Arctic  calendar. 
This  was  the  solstice,  the  sunless  midnight,  the  core 
of  Polar  winter.  To-morrow  the  sun  would  begin  to 
climb  back  to  Mr.  Herriott,  but  the  sun  of  her  life 
had  set  forever.  A  shudder  shook  her,  and  she 
nestled  closer,  laying  her  lips  against  her  father's 
throat.  Eliza  laid  heavier  wraps  around  the  stoop 
ing  shoulders,  placed  a  hot  blanket  under  her  feet, 
and  now  and  then  kissed  the  girl's  bowed  head,  but 
no  words,  no  sob,  profaned  the  sacred  silence. 

When  the  body  was  carried  to  the  chancel  of  the 
crowded  church,  she  walked  alone,  followed  closely 
by  the  few  who  best  understood  her  isolation. 
Shrouded  in  black,  she  sat  still  and  silent  as  her  dead; 
and  some  persons  present  who  had  cause  for  bitter 
ness  against  "  reconstruction  judiciary  "  forgot  their 
wrongs  in  genuine  pity  for  the  proud  and  lonely 
mourner. 

Under  a  fragrant  pall,  woven  of  smilax  and  his 
favorite  double  white  violets,  that  covered  the  casket 
and  fell  to  its  handles,  she  bore  him  away  to  the  stony 
hills  of  New  England. 


CHAPTER    XXIV 

Its  alliterative  jingle  had  probably  commended 
Dairy  Dingle  to  Marcia  Maurice  when  she  se 
lected  a  name  for  the  new  home  of  the  overseer, 
Robert  Mitchell.  Here  he  brought  his  bride  from 
Nutwood,  where  she  had  lived  since  her  father's 
death  on  the  battle-field.  A  Federal  cavalry  raid,  in 
tended  specially  for  the  looting  of  Y and  the 

destruction  of  its  factories,  had  loitered  too  long  at 
Willow  Bend  plantation,  and  finding  Confederate 
squadrons  in  hot  pursuit,  the  Union  troopers  were 
forced  to  retreat,  after  burning  every  building  in  sight 
except  the  cabins  of  the  negroes.  General  Maurice 
loved  the  rambling,  airy,  old-fashioned  country  house 
where  he  was  born,  and  here  he  usually  brought  his 
family  to  spend  Christmas,  and  make  genuine  holiday 
for  his  numerous  slaves.  After  the  raid  only  rock 
chimneys  stood  as  commemorative  pillars,  and  not  a 
vestige  of  gin-house,  cotton  sheds,  or  stables  was 
visible.  At  a  hard  gallop  the  fleeing  troopers 
passed  an  adjacent  grist-mill  which  supplied  several 
plantations  with  meal,  and  paused  long  enough 
to  kindle  a  blaze  in  a  pile  of  corn  sacks.  The 
miller,  a  lame  negro,  extinguished  the  flames,  and 
preserved  a  structure  where  several  generations 
had  brought  their  contributions  to  the  hopper. 
Near  this  old  red  mill  Mrs.  Maurice  built  a  house 
for  her  overseer,  and  after  Eliza's  marriage  gave  it 
and  the  adjoining  fifty  acres  of  cleared  land  to  the 
young  wife.  It  was  a  small,  square  box  of  a  house, 


358  A   SPECKLED  BIRD 

with  four  rooms,  broad,  low-pitched  piazzas,  and 
wide  hall  running  through  the  middle.  Where  the 
rear  gallery  ended,  a  covered  way,  brick  paved,  led 
to  the  kitchen  and  servants'  room.  On  the  left,  at  a 
sudden  dip  of  the  land,  and  several  hundred  yards 
distant,  stood  the  spring  house,  or  stone  dairy,  a 
low  structure  built  over  a  small  stream  running  from 
the  bold  spring  that  gushed  out  of  the  hillside  a  few 
feet  away — and  falling  into  the  creek  just  above  the 
mill-dam. 

A  shallow  canal  dug  through  the  centre  of  the 
dairy  had  been  paved  with  rock,  and  here,  winter 
and  summer,  the  milk  bowls  and  butter  jars  stood  in 
water  rippling  against  their  sides. 

While  General  Maurice  lived,  he  kept  only  his 
Jersey  herd  at  Nutwood,  but  at  Willow  Bend  his 
famous  Short-horns,  red,  and  red  roan,  roamed  over 
pasturage  extending  hundreds  of  acres.  The  "  cow 
pen  "  and  milking  shed  were  not  visible,  hidden  on 
the  edge  of  a  plateau  running  far  away  to  a  stretch  of 
primeval,  lonely  pine  woods  crossed  only  by  cattle 
paths.  In  a  green  cup  encircled  by  wimpling  hills  the 
overseer's  home  nestled  like  a  white  bird  hovering 
to  drink.  The  sharply  curving  creek  that  divided  it 
from  the  plantation  was  bridged  a  half  mile  below  the 
mill,  and  a  dense  growth  of  trees  and  vines  clothed  the 
banks.  In  an  opposite  direction,  beyond  the  house, 
and  mantling  the  upland  slopes,  lay  fields  of  grain, 
glistening  as  the  wind  crinkled  the  yellowing  folds. 

Locust  and  china  trees,  overrun  by  English  honey 
suckle,  coral,  and  buff  woodbine,  shaded  the  cottage, 
and  all  about  the  spring  house  clustered  azaleas — 
white,  pink,  orange,  scarlet — filling  the  quiet  hollow 
~,vith  waves  of  incomparable  perfume.  Hanging  on 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  359 

the  bluff  above  the  bubbling  spring  a  thicket  of  titi 
swung  exquisite  opal  plumes,  over  which  bees 
drowsed;  and  crowding  to  the  front  for  dress  parade 
clung  a  line  of  mountain  laurel  or  "  ivy "  faintly 
flushed  with  pale-rose  clusters  waiting  to  burst  into 
bloom  and  with  their  crimped  shell-pink  cups  rival 
fluted  and  tinted  treasures  from  Sevres  and  Murano. 

Into  this  green,  shadowy  dingle  had  come  its  long 
absent  mistress,  and,  closing  Nutwood,  Eglah  shared 
her  foster-mother's  secluded  home  in  the  heart  of  the 
pine  woods. 

For  many  months  after  her  father's  death  she 
seemed  a  mute,  breathing  statue  rather  than  a  suffer 
ing  woman,  so  deep  lay  the  pain  no  words  could 
fathom.  Close  and  tender  as  were  the  ties  linking 
the  two,  Eliza  dared  not  probe  the  wound,  and  when 
Eglah  closed  the  door  of  her  own  room,  the  loving 
little  mother  would  have  broken  into  a  sealed  tomb 
as  soon  as  violate  her  solitude. 

Two  miles  beyond  the  plantation,  across  the  creek, 
a  new  railway  line  had  established  a  station  called 
Maurice,  and  about  this  nucleus  a  village  grew  with 
surprising  rapidity.  The  site  selected  on  Eglah's 
land  by  the  railway  company  chanced  to  be  that  of 
the  neighborhood  school-house,  where,  on  the  fourth 
Sunday  of  each  month,  a  Methodist  minister  of  many 
mission  chapels  preached.  Mrs.  Mitchell  had  organ 
ized  a  Sabbath  school,  and  Eglah  had  given  a  cabinet 
organ,  but  the  figure  shrouded  in  mourning  was  seen 
only  when  driving  in  her  trap,  or  more  frequently 
alone  on  horseback.  These  long  rides  through  roll 
ing  pine  forests  and  silent  sunny  glades,  where  she 
met  none  but  her  own  velvet-eyed,  browsing  red 


360  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

cattle,  and  shy,  happy  rabbits,  were  hours  of  immeas 
urable  relief;  yet,  at  intervals,  proved  battle-ground 
on  which  she  fought  the  crowding  spectres  of  a  som 
bre,  brooding  future.  Political  and  social  ambitions 
were  shut  forever  in  her  father's  grave;  domestic 
duties  ended  when  the  doors  and  gates  of  Nutwood 
riad  been  locked;  and  business  affairs  were  in  far  wiser 
hands  than  hers.  What  should  she  do  with  her  empty 
life? 

One  afternoon,  goaded  by  sad  thoughts,  she  had 
ridden  farther  than  usual,  and,  returning,  reined  her 
"horse  in  at  the  brink  of  a  meadow  to  tighten  her  coil 
of  hair,  shaken  by  a  rapid  gallop.  Before  her  a  group 
of  young,  red,  dappled  calves  lay  in  the  thick  grass, 
their  soft  eyes  wonderingly  alert,  and  all  Pan's  or 
chestra  seemed  rehearsing.  A  wood-lark  in  a  crab- 
apple  bush  set  the  pitch,  a  red-bird  followed;  two 
crows  answered  from  the  top  of  an  ancient  pine,  and 
.among  beech  boughs  a  velvet-throated  thrush  trilled, 
while  under  sedge  shadows  frogs  croaked  a  hoarse 
bassoon.  From  the  edge  of  a  pool  dimpling  the  turf 
white  herons  rose,  flitting  slowly  across  an  orange 
sky,  where  cloud  fringes  burned  in  the  similitude  of 
scarlet  tulips.  If  she  could  cease  to  be  a  woman  with 
an  aching  heart  and  an  immortal  soul,  what  a  peaceful 
home  was  here  among  the  sinless  forest  children  vast 
mother  earth  had  called  to  sing  and  play  in  her  pine- 
roofed,  grassy  nursery.  If  the  sylvan  quietude  of  this 
Theocritan  retreat  had  power  to  witch  her  surging 
pulses  to  unbroken  calm,  she  might  hide  for  ever  in 
her  own  green  aisles,  secure  from  stinging  shafts  of 
gossip  and  derision.  She  lifted  the  reins  and  the 
horse  sprang  forward. 

A  year  ago  Mr.  Herriott  had  sailed.     No  tidings 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  361 

reached  her;  no  allusion  to  the  "  Ahvungah  "  had 
appeared  in  any  of  the  newspapers  she  searched  daily. 
She  knew  the  vessel  would  not  stop  at  an  American 
port — would  return  directly  to  Europe  from  the  Arc 
tic  circle — but  the  American  press  would  chronicle 
the  close  of  the  expedition.  If  disaster  had  overtaken 
it,  how  soon  could  she  know? 

Was  Mr.  Herriott  frozen  fast  in  the  awful  desola 
tion  of  Whale  Sound,  or  sledging  in  a  race  with  death 
across  that  vast,  level,  white  ice  desert  of  compacted 
snow  in  central  Greenland,  eight  thousand  feet  above 
the  sea,  swept  by  Polar  winds  that  never  sleep? 
Wherever  Arctic  fetters  held  him,  the  moon  shone 
constantly  two  weeks  for  him,  and  after  the  long  night 
a  returning  sun  was  now  gilding  the  minarets  of  ice 
bergs  and  unlocking  the  bars  of  floes. 

If  he  never  came  back  she  could  indulge  the  love 
that  so  unexpectedly  stirred  her  heart,  that  had 
grown  swiftly  since  he  left  her ;  if  he  survived  and  re 
turned  she  must  hide  her  affection  and  herself  far 
from  the  biting,  branding  scorn  that  would  always 
glow  in  his  eyes.  How  could  she  bear  the  dreary 
coming  years  of  a  possibly  long  life?  There  were 
hours  in  which  she  tried  to  hope  he  would  not  come 
back;  but  recalling  that  one  moment  when  he  held 
her  so  tight  to  his  breast,  she  seemed  to  feel  again 
the  furious  beating  of  his  heart  which  had  never  be 
longed  to  any  woman  but  herself,  and,  as  the  memory 
thrilled  her,  into  her  wan  face  crept  a  joyful  flush. 
At  last,  too  late,  her  heart  was  his,  but  he  no  longer 
desired  or  valued  it.  He  had  cast  her  out  of  his  life. 
Riding  slowly  homeward  in  the  star-powdered, 
silvery-grey  gloaming,  she  locked  her  torturing 
thoughts  behind  the  mask  of  silence  that  was  becom- 


362  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

ing  habitual,  and  near  the  mill  met  Mrs.  Mitchell's 
tender  eyes  on  watch  for  her. 

A  few  mornings  later,  Eglah  stood  in  the  dairy 
door,  looking  up  beyond  a  sentry  line  of  tall  pear 
trees  uniformed  in  vivid  green,  to  the  hillside,  where 
lay  the  peach  orchard  a  month  before  in  full  flower, 
billowing  gently  like  a  wide  coverlet  of  pink  silk 
shaken  in  sunlight.  Followed  by  Delilah,  who  knew 
the  haunts  of  water-rats  in  the  velvet  moss  low  on  the 
banks,  she  walked  toward  the  creek.  Over  one  cor 
ner  of  the  deserted  red  mill  a  dewberry  vine  feathered 
with  blossoms  rambled  almost  to  the  sagging  roof, 
and  along  the  ruined  line  of  the  old  race  ferns  held  up 
their  lace  fronds  to  shade  the  lilac  spikes  of  water- 
hyacinths.  It  was  a  cool,  lonely  place,  sweet  with  the 
breath  of  wild  flowers,  silent  save  the  endless  adagio 
in  minors  played  by  crystal  fingers  of  the  stream  steal 
ing  down  the  broken,  crumbling  stone  dam.  In  that 
quiet  nook  all  outside  noises  seemed  intrusive,  and 
Eglah  listened  to  the  beat  of  a  horse's  hoofs  cantering 
across  the  bridge  below  the  mill.  Very  soon  Mr. 
Boynton  appeared  and  dismounted. 

"  Good  morning,  Miss  Eglah.  A  telegram  was 

forwarded  from  Y ,  and  as  I  happened  to  be  at 

Maurice  when  it  came,  I  brought  it  at  once." 

"  Thank  you  very  much." 

She  took  the  message  and  walked  away  a  few  steps, 
struggling  for  strength  to  face  the  worst. 

"  Mrs.  Noel  Herriott : 

"  Amos  Lea  has  been  ill  for  months.  To-day  I  am 
called  to  Chicago  to  my  sick  son.  Delia  will  not  stay 
here  without  me.  Some  woman  ought  to  come. 

"AMANDA  ORR." 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  363 

"  I  hope  it  is  good  news  about  your  husband?  " 

"  Mr.  Boynton,  it  might  be  worse.  Sickness  in 
Mr.  Herriott's  household  seems  to  require  that  I 
should  go  to  his  home  for  a  few  days.  Please  wait 
here  until  I  can  go  to  the  house  and  find  out  what 
must  be  done.  I  may  trouble  you  to  attend  to  some 
matters  for  me." 

Mrs.  Mitchell  sat  on  the  steps  at  the  rear  of  the  cot 
tage,  stemming  a  bowl  of  strawberries  and  warily 
watching  the  elusive  feints  of  a  white  turkey  hen  pick 
ing  her  way  to  a  nest  hidden  in  a  tangle  of  blackberry 
vines.  Eglah  held  the  open  telegram  before  her  eyes 
and  waited. 

"  I  suppose  you  want  me  to  go?  " 

"  I  wish  you  to  be  there  with  me.  I  can  not  go 
alone." 

"  Dearie,  you  can't  nurse  the  gardener.  If  Mr. 
Herriott  were  at  home  he  would  not  listen  to  any 
such  nonsense." 

"  I  like  Amos  Lea,  and  I  intend  to  put  him  in  the 
hands  of  a  good  trained  nurse  until  Mrs.  Orr  re 
turns." 

"  That  could  be  done  easily  by  telegraph  or  letter. 
But,  my  baby,  if  it  would  comfort  you  to  be  in  the 
house "  " 

Eglah  threw  up  her  hand  with  a  warning  gesture. 

"  I  wish  to  stay  only  a  few  days;  just  long  enough 
to  assure  myself  that  the  old  man  is  carefully  attended 

to.  I  prefer  not  to  start  from  Y ,  and  the  train 

despatcher  at  Maurice  can  stop  the  up  train  at  11.45. 
We  need  no  trunk,  and  I  have  the  money  to  pay  our 
way  on.  I  shall  write  and  have  more  forwarded  from 
the  bank.  Ma-Lila,  I  wish  to  start  to-night.  Can 
you  get  ready  ?  " 


364:  A   SPECKLED  BIRD 

The  little  woman's  level  brows  puckered,  but  the 
light  in  her  eyes  was  a  caress. 

"  Can  I  refuse  any  of  your  foolish  whims?  I  have 
spoiled  you  all  your  life,  and  it  is  rather  late  in  the 
day  for  me  to  undertake  to  oppose  you.  I  see  Hiram 
Boynton  waiting,  and  I  must  arrange  with  him  to 
have  his  boys  sleep  here  and  take  care  of  everything 
in  our  absence.  You  know  my  pet  cow's  calf  is  only 
three  days  old,  and  her  udder  needs  watching." 

They  reached  Greyledge  at  noon,  accompanied 
by  the  middle-aged  nurse  commended  by  the  matron 
of  a  hospital  in  the  neighboring  city.  At  the  sound 
of  carriage  wheels  on  the  stone  driveway,  the  dogs 
greeted  them  from  the  kennels  in  the  stable  yard,  and 
several  peals  from  the  front  door  bell  rang  through 
the  closed  house  before  the  butler,  pipe  in  hand, 
opened  the  door.  Speechless  from  astonishment,  he 
staggered  back. 

"  Good  morning,  Hawkins.     How  is  Amos  Lea?  " 

"  About  the  same,  ma'am,  the  doctor  says.  Mrs. 
Herriott,  I  hope  you  will  excuse  the  looks  of  things. 
If  I  had  known  you  were  coming  I  would  have  lighted 
the  furnace  and  warmed  the  house  and  been  nearer 
ready.  There  is  not  a  female  on  the  place.  Delia  was 
that  prudish  she  went  with  her  aunt." 

"  Did  Mrs.  Orr  leave  all  the  keys  with  you?  " 

"  Yes,  ma'am." 

"  Bring  them  to  me  and  show  me  where  they  be 
long.  Is  Rivers  here  ?" 

"Oh,  yes,  ma'am;  also  his  cousin  Nelson,  who  helps 
with  the  horses  and  dogs;  and  David  Green,  the  under 
gardener." 

"  Hawkins,  you  know  Mrs.  Mitchell;  she  came 
with  me  on  a  visit  before  my  marriage;  and  this  is 


A  SPECKLED  BIRD  365 

Mrs.  Adams,  who  will  nurse  Amos  for  the  present. 
Open  the  house  and  make  fires  in  the  '  blue  room ' 
and  two  other  bedrooms.  I  shall  be  here  only  a  short 
while,  and  you  must  do  the  best  you  can  for  us  as 
regards  meals.  When  the  time  comes  for  feeding 
the  dogs  I  wish  to  be  notified.  I  am  afraid  they  have 
forgotten  me." 

"  If  you  please,  ma'am,  what  is  the  news  from  Mr. 
Herriott?  When  I  saw  you  I  felt  sure  he  must  be 
coming  home  shortly.  We  count  the  days  till  we  see 
him." 

"  I  am  sorry,  Hawkins,  but  no  news  reaches  me 
now.  It  has  been  a  long,  dreary,  dreadful  time.  I 
came  because  Mrs.  Orr  telegraphed  me  some  one  was 
needed  here  to  look  after  the  sick.  Ma-Lila,  will  you 
go  upstairs  with  Mrs.  Adams  while  I  see  Amos  ?  " 

Near  the  gardener's  cottage  she  met  David  Green, 
with  a  bowl  of  broth  in  his  hands  and  a  scowl  on  his 
sunburned  face. 

"  How  are  you,  David  ?  Hearing  that  Amos  is 
sick,  I  have  brought  a  good  nurse  to  stay  with  him 
till  the  housekeeper  returns.  What  is  the  matter 
with  him?" 

"  Madam,  it  is  mostly  crankiness  now,  in  my 
opinion.  Last  fall  he  had  a  spell  of  fever  that  left  him 
ailing,  and  in  January  he  fell  into  inflammatory 
rheumatism  that  made  him  as  helpless  as  a  baby  and 
fractious  as  a  bull  pup.  But  he  got  better  of  it,  and 
able  to  hobble  around  his  room  on  crutches.  Like 
the  mule  he  is,  he  would  creep  down  to  the  green 
houses,  hunting  something  to  scold  me  about,  and  his 
crutch  slipped  on  the  ice  and  he  hurt  his  hip  joint. 
The  doctor  orders  him  to  keep  still  and  not  move  that 
leg,  but,  madam,  he  shuffles  around  in  his  bed 


366  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

for  all  the  world  like  hyenas  in  a  circus  cage.  We 
men  take  him  up  as  easy  as  can  be  and  lay  him  on 
a  cot  and  change  his  clothes;  but  cranky!  Cross! 
The  angels  couldn't  please  him.  I  guess  he  is  sore, 
and  when  we  jar  and  hurt  him,  instead  of  cursing  us 
with  a  wholesome,  honest  oath  we  are  used  to,  he 
throws  up  his  arms,  rolls  back  his  eyes  till  they  are 
all  white  balls,  and  shouts  to  the  Lord  to  set  Jezreel's 
hounds,  and  Og,  and  the  rest  of  the  Bible  beasts,  and 
the  imps  of  Belial  upon  us !  He  calls  us  '  godless 
goats/  and  we  don't  set  up  to  be  religious,  but  he 
passes  for  pious  and  stands  high  in  his  church,  and  it 
makes  us  feel  creepy,  because  we  don't  know  when 
the  Lord  might  happen  to  listen  to  him.  You  know, 
madam,  he  has  got  a  strong  pull  on  the  master.  Mr. 
Herriott  humors  his  whims,  and  now  he  is  away  we 
are  doing  our  best  for  Amos.  Every  other  night  I 
leave  my  family,  three  miles  away,  and  sleep  here  in 
his  room.  Mrs.  Herriott,  I  have  come  to  the  conclu 
sion  that  if  the  master  does  not  get  home  soon  the  old 
man  will  fret  himself  to  death.  Day  and  night  he 
prays  for  him.  Every  morning  we  bring  him  a  paper, 
and  his  poor  hands  shake  while  he  holds  it  and 
searches  for  news  of  the  vessel,  as  a  pointer  hunts  par 
tridges.  My  wife  is  a  first-class  cook,  and,  thinking 
to  please  him,  she  made  and  sent  him  this  broth. 
Just  now,  when  he  tasted  it,  the  corners  of  his  mouth 
went  nearly  to  his  ears,  and  he  asked  me  please  to 
pour  it  into  Tzar's  pan  as  I  passed  the  kennel.  If  I 
had  my  choice,  I  would  rather  nurse  a  bucketful  of 
hornets." 

"  I  am  glad  you  have  all  been  so  good  to  him;  you 
especially,  who  have  a  wife  and  children  to  claim  you. 
I  hope  Mr.  Herriott  can  soon  be  at  home,  and  he  will 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  367 

thank  you.  Now  your  responsibility  ceases,  because 
I  have  employed  a  good  nurse,  trained  in  a  hospital, 
who  will  know  what  is  best  for  him  and  make  him 
obey  the  doctor's  directions.  David,  I  am  sure  you 
men  will  be  considerate  and  respectful  while  she  re 
mains." 

At  the  door  of  the  gardener's  house,  Snap  dashed 
out,  barking  viciously.  She  called  his  name  twice  and 
held  out  her  hand,  but,  eyeing  her  suspiciously,  he 
growled  and  retreated  across  the  threshold.  Propped 
with  pillows,  Amos  was  on  a  cot  near  the  hearth,  and 
a  newspaper  lay  across  his  knees.  The  room  was 
bright  with  sunshine,  and  when  Eglah  entered,  clad 
in  black,  her  long  crepe  veil  thrown  back  and  falling 
nearly  to  the  floor,  the  old  man  stared  at  her  and 
almost  shrieked : 

"  Has  the  Lord  God  taken  my  lad?  You  wear 
widow's  black  for  him  ?  " 

"  No,  Amos.  The  Lord  God  took  my  father,  and 
my  mourning  is  for  him." 

He  threw  up  his  arms. 

"  God  be  praised !  " 

After  a  moment,  he  added  apologetically : 

"  Madam,  I  mean  I  am  thankful  Noel  is  spared. 
You  see,  I  think  only  of  the  boy." 

She  drew  a  chair  to  the  cot  and  took  one  of  the  gar 
dener's  wasted,  gnarled  hands  in  hers. 

"  I  did  not  hear  of  your  sickness  till  three  days  ago, 
and  I  came  at  once,  to  see  if  I  could  not  make  you 
more  comfortable  while  Mrs.  Orr  is  away." 

"  It  makes  no  difference  about  my  worn-out  old 
body — that  is  a  crippled  hulk.  My  mind  is  in  tor 
ment  because  of  the  lad's  danger.  Where  is  he  now? 
In  the  ice  on  land,  or  locked  up  in  the  ship  of  the 


368  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

ungodly  name,  that  can  never  break  loose  from  the 
bergs  leaning  over  her?  Tell  me,  was  your  news 
later  than  my  letter?" 

He  dragged  from  his  bosom  two  worn,  soiled  en 
velopes  and  held  them  towards  her.  One  was  post 
marked  St.  John,  N.  B.,  the  other  Dundee,  Scotland. 
As  she  opened  them  a  bunch  of  yellow  poppies  and  a 
little  square  of  moss  fell  into  her  lap.  She  glanced  at 
the  dates.  The  oldest  was  from  Upernavik,  soon 
after  the  vessel  reached  Greenland;  the  most  recent 
was  from  off  Cape  Alexander,  where  the  "  Ahvun- 
gah  "  was  frozen  in. 

"  No,  Amos,  your  news  is  the  latest  I  have  heard." 

Her  voice  quivered,  and  replacing  the  flowers  in  an 
envelope,  she  laid  the  unread  letters  on  the  cot. 

"  Was  your  last  letter  from  him  the  same  date  as 
mine?" 

"  No ;  it  was  earlier." 

The  cold,  light-grey  eyes  in  their  deep,  sunken 
sockets  probed  hers  like  steel. 

"  Madam,  it  was  your  fault  he  went  away." 

"  No,  his  word  was  pledged  before  our  marriage, 
and  I  am  not  responsible  for  this  journey.  I  did  all 
that  was  possible  to  keep  him." 

Amos  leaned  forward  and  grasped  her  wrist. 

"  You  know  you  are  to  blame.  What  was  it  you 
did  to  him?  That  night  you  came — a  bride — I  saw 
when  he  took  you  from  the  carriage  everything  had 
gone  wrong  with  him.  I  knew  what  that  grip  of  his 
mouth  and  that  red  spark  in  his  eyes  meant.  You  did 
him  some  wrong." 

She  shook  her  head,  and,  even  in  his  wrath,  the 
hopeless  sorrow  in  her  eyes  touched  him. 

"  You  struck  him  a  bitter,  hard  blow  somewhere. 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  369 

You  see,  since  he  was  a  year  old  and  his  mother  died, 
I  have  watched  him.  His  father  was  away  with  his 
railroads  and  his  mines  out  West,  and  Susan  and  I  had 
the  care  of  him  till  he  was  put  to  his  books  and  had 
a  tutor  to  teach  him  Latin.  They  set  him  at  that 
stupid  business  too  early.  I  made  his  kites,  and 
played  marbles  with  him,  and  sailed  his  little  boats, 
and — :  His  voice  broke,  and  he  paused  to  steady  it. 

"  He  was  always  truthful,  and  honorable,  and  gen 
erous,  but — may  the  Lord  have  mercy  on  him — he 
was  born  with  the  temper  of  Beelzebub.  Not  from 
his  mother  did  he  get  it,  but  from  his  hard  old  father, 
Fergus  Herriott,  who  somehow  managed  to  keep 
himself  under  check-rein  and  bit.  He  never  punished 
the  lad  but  once,  and  that  was  when  the  devil  pos 
sessed  the  child.  He  was  barely  ten  years  old.  He 
fell  into  a  terrible  rage  with  Susan  about  the  fit  of  a 
bathing  suit  she  made  for  him,  and  kicked  the  clothes 
into  the  lake.  Then  he  turned  on  her  like  a  son  of 
Belial  with  rough,  ugly,  sinful  language  till  she  cried. 
His  father  happened  to  be  in  the  boat  house  near  by. 
He  came  out,  took  him  by  the  shoulders  and  shook 
him,  ordering  him  to  apologize  instantly  to  his  nurse. 
The  boy  set  his  teeth  and  shook  his  head. 

'  If  you  do  not  apologize  properly  to  her,  I  shall 
thrash  you.' 

"  The  lad's  eyes  blazed. 

"  '  As  you  are  my  father,  you  will  do  as  you  like, 
sir/ 

"  Then  and  there  he  thrashed  him,  Susan  howling, 
but  not  a  sound  from  him.  Mr.  Herriott  sent  him  to 
his  room,  and  ordered  Susan  not  to  go  near  him. 
There  were  several  railroad  officials  to  dinner  that 
day,  and  they  staid  late.  Susan  sat  yonder  by  the 
24 


370  A.   SPECKLED  BIRD 

window,  crying  fit  to  break  her  heart,  when  the  lad 
walked  in  and  went  close  to  her.  She  held  out  her 
arms,  and  the  tears  ran  down  her  cheeks. 

"  *  Susan,  I  am  sorry  I  was  such  a  beast.  I  am 
ashamed  of  what  I  said,  and  I  beg  your  pardon.  Dear 
Susan,  forgive  me/ 

"  My  poor  wife,  how  she  hugged  and  petted  him, 
only  he  never  would  let  any  one  kiss  him  on  his  lips. 
As  he  sat  in  her  lap,  with  one  arm  around  her  neck, 
his  face  was  deadly  white  and  his  eyes  looked  like 
two  red  stars;  the  devil  had  not  loosed  his  grip.  Then 
his  father  called  at  the  doorstep,  '  Amos,  is  Noel 
here?'  When  the  old  man  came  in,  the  boy  was 
standing  in  the  middle  of  the  floor,  with  his  hands 
behind  him,  and  Susan  ran  forward. 

1  If  you  please,  Mr.  Herriott,  I  am  sure  he  is  not 
well.  I  thought  so  at  the  lake  side,  and  he  is  feverish. 
His  head  is  hot/ 

"  '  Yes,  Susan.  Truly  his  head  is  too  hot.  Come, 
my  son.' 

"  He  held  out  his  hand,  but  Noel  did  not  move.  His 
father  went  to  him,  put  an  arm  around  him,  and 
forced  him  away.  Next  morning  the  doctor  was  sent 
for,  found  him  in  a  raging  fever;  said  it  was  measles, 
but  Susan  knew  better.  For  a  week  Mr.  Herriott 
never  left  that  room,  even  for  his  meals,  and  he  chas 
tised  him  no  more.  Each  day  he  was  prouder  and 
fonder  of  the  boy.  Madam,  I  am  telling  you  all  this 
that  you  may  be  sure  I  make  no  mistakes  about  him. 
He  was  hard  hit  the  day  he  went  away.  There 
is  a  place  far  around  the  beach  bend,  a  stone  bench, 
where  he  has  fought  battles  with  himself  since  he  wore 
frilled  shirts.  It  is  his  stamping-ground  when  his 
blood  is  up,  and  the  devil  squats  at  his  ears.  Now 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  371 

I  want  to  know  why  he  spent  his  last  night  at  home 
down  there  alone  ?  " 

His  bony  hand  tightened  its  grip  like  the  claw  of 
an  eagle  on  her  wrist,  and  beneath  the  shaggy  white 
brows  his  keen,  fiery  eyes  demanded  answer. 

"  Madam,  you  drove  him  there." 

"  Mr.  Herriott  was  very  angry  with  me.  Unin 
tentionally  I  had  wounded  him,  and  he  did  not  for 
give  me;  I  fear  he  never  will.  He  is  not  to  blame. 
I  did  what  seemed  right  and  necessary  at  the  time, 
but  afterward  I  found  I  had  made  a  terrible  mistake. 
It  is  all  my  fault,  not  his.  Amos,  I  am  very  unhappy, 
far  more  so  than  Mr.  Herriott;  but  some  matters  I 
discuss  with  no  one,  and  you  must  ask  me  no  more 
questions." 

"  Of  course  he  was  not  to  blame;  he  never  is. 
You  did  not  read  his  letters."  He  held  them  toward 
her. 

"  No,  they  were  intended  solely  for  you." 

"  But  I  am  more  than  willing  you  should  see  what 
he  says  about  the  God-forsaken  den  of  bears  and 
wolves  where  he  is  blundering  around  in  the  dark." 

'  Thank  you,  Amos,  but  they  would  only  distress 
me." 

Watching  her  pale,  beautiful  face,  the  old  man 
sighed. 

"  Madam,  if  you  are  not  to  blame  for  his  going  on 
this  wild,  godless  chase,  I  must  not  feel  so  bitter 
against  his  young  wife  as  I  have  done.  Dear  lad! 
The  very  last  words  he  spoke  to  me  that  day  at  the 
gate  were,  '  If  I  never  come  back,  do  all  you  can  for 
Mrs.  Herriott,  for  my  sake.  Amos,  I  have  loved  her 
since  she  was  ten  years  old.' ' 

There  was  a  tap  at  the  door,  and  the  doctor  en- 


372  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

tered.     Eglah  rose  and  drew  her  veil  over  her  face, 
but  Amos  clutched  her  sleeve. 

"  Doctor,  this  is  Airs.  Herriott,  the  lad's  wife." 
"  I  am  glad  to  see  you  here,  doctor.     Knowing 
Mrs.  Orr  was  called  away,  I  have  a  trained  nurse, 
who  will  help  you  get  Amos  Lea  out  of  bed.     I  shall 
send  her  at  once  to  you  for  instructions." 

Without  attempting  to  analyze  her  complex  emo 
tions,  Eglah  surrendered  herself  to  the  strange  new 
comfort  of  wandering  hour  after  hour  about  the 
house,  where  every  nook  and  corner  babbled  of  the 
owner.  Despite  her  efforts  to  placate  and  win  the 
dogs,  they  sullenly  rejected  her  overtures,  echoing 
the  repudiation  of  their  master,  and  watching  her  with 
suspicious  enmity.  On  the  second  afternoon  the  doc 
tor  and  nurse  assured  her  the  gardener  would  soon 
be  relieved  by  electricity,  massage,  and  tonics,  and 
when  a  letter  from  Mrs.  Orr  to  Hawkins  announced 
her  expected  return  two  days  later,  there  seemed  no 
reason  for  prolonging  Eglah's  visit.  She  wished  to 
avoid  an  interview  with  the  housekeeper,  and  ar 
ranged  to  start  south  a  few  hours  earlier  than  the  time 
fixed  for  her  arrival.  In  the  stone  cottage  she  spent  a 
portion  of  each  day;  had  gone  carefully  over  Arctic 
maps  and  charts  with  Amos,  outlining  the  probable 
course  of  the  exploring  party.  She  explained  some 
terms,  and  gave  him  a  duplicate  of  the  calendar  she 
had  made  for  herself,  whereby  he  could  tell  when  and 
how  long  the  moon  shone,  what  day  the  sun  set,  and 
when,  after  months,  it  would  rise  again.  As  the  old 
man  watched  through  his  silver  spectacles  the  sad, 
worn,  pallid  face,  and  realized  that  she  too  suffered, 
his  resentful  antipathy  diminished,  and  Mr.  Herriott's 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  373 

farewell  charge  began  to  invest  her  with  an  unex 
pected  sanctity. 

The  last  day  of  her  stay  was  unusually  warm  for  the 
season,  and  after  reading  to  the  sick  man  and  leaving 
a  bunch  of  jonquils  near  his  cot,  Eglah  went  quite 
late  in  the  afternoon  for  a  farewell  walk  along  the 
beach.  She  coaxed  the  dogs  unavailingly.  Pilot,  the 
collie,  followed  as  far  as  the  stone  stile,  and  then  de 
serted  her.  Beyond  the  end  of  the  curve,  where  sil 
ver  poplars  came  to  the  water's  edge,  she  found  a 
white  marble  seat,  shaped  like  a  horseshoe,  with  broad 
arms  and  an  arched  back  elaborately  carved.  Winter 
rains  had  rippled  and  drifted  the  sand  over  its  feet, 
and  across  one  corner  a  bramble  strayed.  It  was  here 
Mr.  Herriott  had  spent  his  last  night  at  home.  She 
brushed  aside  dead  leaves,  sat  down,  and  plucked 
away  the  encroaching  vine.  Deep  in  her  heart  sang 
his  final  words  to  Amos :  "  I  have  loved  her  since  she 
was  ten  years  old."  Living  or  dead,  he  was  hers; 
angry  and  estranged,  but  hers — always  hers. 

She  thought  of  what  life  might  have  been  with  him 
here,  remembered  the  warm,  close  clasp  of  his  hand, 
the  lover  light  in  his  fine  eyes  that  was  a  caress  that 
first  hour  on  the  cars ;  and  recalling  the  last  moment, 
when  he  strained  her  to  his  breast,  her  fair  face 
flushed,  her  sad  heart  thrilled.  Now  that  beautiful 
"  might  have  been  "  lay  irrecoverable  as  the  "  lost 
land  of  Lyonnesse,"  under  its  transparent  shroud, 
and  haunting  echoes  of  tender  tones  tolled  faintly, 
like  buried  bells  of  Folge  Fond. 

The  day  had  been  sultry,  but  the  wind  rose  with 
the  full,  red  moon  that  swung  now  above  the  cliffs, 
a  globe  of  burnished  copper,  taking  on  the  glory  of 
gold  as  it  climbed  higher,  and  from  some  distant  bel- 


374  A   SPECKLED  BIRD 

fry  a  vesper  benediction,  low  and  sweet,  slowly  drifted 
over  the  great  lake.  The  water,  glassy  an  hour  before, 
thrilled  and  swelled  in  answer  to  the  fingers  of  the 
wind,  as  a  viol  to  the  touch  of  its  bow,  and  wavelets 
widened,  shimmered  as  they  ran.  An  eastbound 
schooner,  all  sails  set,  midway  from  shore  to 
horizon,  followed  the  path  of  light  like  a  gigantic 
white  moth  fluttering  upward  to  the  moon.  Where 
did  her  rays  find  Mr.  Herriott  to-night?  Sleeping  his 
last  sleep  in  the  wind-carved  marble  sepulchre  of  glit 
tering  sastrugi,  with  that  white  moon  of  the  "  Great 
Ice  "  silvering  the  face  now  so  dear  to  his  abandoned 
wife?  Or  frozen  and  embalmed  under  the  lee  of  tow 
ering  blue  hummocks,  in  the  grim  shadow  of  looming 
iron-bound  shores  ?  Or  dying  of  starvation  in  a  lamp- 
less,  rent,  ruined,  iglooyah,  with  only  Innuit  corpses 
encircling  him? 

She  fell  on  her  knees,  bowed  her  head  on  the  seat, 
and  prayed  as  never  before  for  his  safety. 

The  wind  freshened  from  the  south,  and  far  away 
in  some  mountain  lair  thunder  growled.  Eglah 
looked  long  at  the  beautiful  curve  of  the  land,  at  the 
shivering  poplars  turning  white  in  anticipation  of 
storm,  at  the  irregular  outline  of  the  old  stone  pile 
projecting  its  spectral  shadow  on  the  shining  water 
lapping  the  terrace  wall.  Two  hours  later  a  gale 
swept  the  lake,  and  under  bluish  glare  of  lightning 
the  waves  showed  their  flashing  teeth. 

With  fine  feminine  instinct  that  penetrates  far  be 
low  the  surface,  yet  gives  no  hint  of  the  depths,  Eliza 
divined  that  the  unhappy  woman  desired  unbroken 
solitude,  and  the  foster-mother  went  early  to  her  own 
bedroom. 

Slowly  Eglah  mounted  the  spiral  stairs  that  led  to 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  375 

the  billiard  room  and  thence  to  the  tower.  The  for 
mer  was  dark,  and  as  she  placed  her  candle  on  the 
table  something  fluttered  and  fell.  It  was  a  Chiriqui 
quetzal,  perched  upon  a  small  slab  brought  from  Pa- 
lenque  and  fastened  as  a  bracket  above  the  fireplace. 
She  picked  it  up,  smoothed  the  brilliant,  drooping 
feathers,  and  set  it  securely  on  the  table,  but  a  legend 
she  had  associated  with  it  made  her  shiver  as  she 
opened  the  door  and  stepped  into  the  tower. 

High  above  her,  and  just  under  the  roof,  the 
great  lamp  with  its  reflector  threw  light  far  out 
over  the  tossing  waste  of  water,  kindling  crowns 
of  fire  where  the  wave  crests  broke.  She  sat  down 
on  a  wooden  bench  at  one  of  the  open  arches,  and 
watched  the  departing  cloud  fringe  of  the  storm  rush 
ing  from  the  far,  sweet,  throbbing  South,  to  the  icy 
silence  of  a  more  distant  North;  listened  to  the  fitful 
moan  of  tired  waves,  trying  to  sob  themselves  to  rest. 
Would  the  fleet  fohn  reach  Greenland,  melt  the 
blue  cables  strong  as  steel  that  held  iceberg  ranges, 
domed  with  frosted  silver — open  the  yellow  eyes  of 
poppies,  and  waft  the  ivory  gulls  back  to  weary  watch 
ers  ?  Often  a  blessing  there,  it  was  sometimes  a  curse. 
Could  that  fierce,  hot,  southern  breath  battle  against 
the  ceaseless  wind,  snow-laden  even  in  sunshine,  that 
sweeps  forever  from  palssocrystic  seas  across  the  white 
desolation  of  the  great  ice  cap?  Persistent  study  of 
Northern  travels  had  so  completely  filled  Eglah's 
mind  with  Arctic  images,  that  by  an  inevitable  mag 
netism  every  change  of  atmospheric  conditions 
pointed  to  the  Pole. 

As  the  night  waned,  the  moon  emerged  from 
ragged  clouds,  and  gradually  the  lake  quieted  to  its 
wonted  crooning  monologue,  broken  only  by  the 


376  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

strophe  and  antistrophe  of  startled  water-fowl  scat 
tered  by  the  storm.  Eglah  heard  the  clock  strike  two, 
and  went  down  to  the  billiard  room.  The  candle  was 
flickering,  and  in  its  spasmodic  light  the  eyes  of  the 
Quiche  holy  bird  had  a  preternatural,  sinister  glitter. 
She  hurried  downstairs  and  locked  herself  in  the  den, 
the  master's  favorite  room.  Cabinets  were  sealed, 
busts  shrouded  in  cambric  hoods,  pictures  veiled. 
Only  Mr.  Herriott's  desk  remained  as  she  remem 
bered  it,  and  here,  with  her  arms  crossed  on  the  mo 
rocco  cover  and  her  face  hidden  upon  them,  she 
watched  the  night  depart,  saw  the  dawn  of  the  day 
that  would  take  her  away  forever  from  the  home  she 
had  learned  to  love  too  late. 


CHAPTER  XXV 

Heavy  are  the  brakes  with  which  suspense  and 
anxious  longing  clog  the  wheels  of  time,  yet  seasons 
end;  the  spokes  spin  and  come  again,  insistent  re 
minders  to  waiting  watchers  of  the  endless,  inexorable 
procession  of  years. 

An  early  frost  had  hastened  autumnal  effects 
usually  due  a  month  later,  and  the  atmosphere  was 
crisp  and  sparkling.  White  oaks,  maples,  and  sweet 
gums  rustled  their  amber  leaves  sprinkled  with  red, 
black  gums  swung  scarlet  torches  from  every  bough, 
wild  grape  vines  festooned  supporting  trees  with  flut 
tering  lace-of-gold,  and  crimson  and  bronze  berry- 
brambles  had  colored  warmly  under  the  first  frost 
kiss.  Close  to  the  little  wire  gate  of  the  Dingle  a 
tulip  tree  shook  its  burnished,  brocaded  banners,  and 
in  and  around  its  branches  coiled  a  muscadine,  hung 
with  glossy,  purplish-black  clusters  that  filled  the 
air  with  delicious,  challenging  fragrance. 

With  an  unopened  roll  of  newspapers  in  her  hand, 
Eglah  leaned  for  some  moments  on  the  gate,  admir 
ing  the  superb  vestments  of  yellow  and  red  that  na 
ture  hung  out  to  bar  the  cold — a  small  cloud  island  of 
ruby  near  the  horizon  against  which  an  acacia  etched 
its  slender  lines,  and  listening  to  the  song  of  a  mock 
ing-bird,  that  rose  like  a  flute  above  the  whistle  of  a 
partridge  astray  in  feathery  broom  sedge.  On  the 
orchard  slope  Mrs.  Mitchell,  basket  in  hand,  groped 
and  peered  amid  tufts  of  golden-rod,  hunting  a  be- 


378  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

lated  brood  of  young  turkeys.  Eglah  passed  through 
the  gate,  went  into  the  mill,  and  found  a  seat  on  one 
of  the  circular  grinding  stones.  The  wall  had  partly 
fallen  on  the  west  side,  and  the  glow  of  a  sinking  sun 
lighted  the  dusty,  cobwebbed  rafters  that  upheld  what 
remained  of  the  roof.  The  chant  of  a  portion  of  the 
stream  rolling  from  mossy  rocks  to  the  ruined,  slug 
gish  race  was  low  and  soothing  as  a  lullaby. 

It  had  been  a  sad  day,  marking  two  years  since  the 
evening  in  the  library  when  Judge  Kent  had  been 
stricken;  the  beginning  of  a  slow  death.  Dwelling 
upon  the  indelible  incidents,  an  acute  pain  was  added 
to  the  chronic  ache  from  which  his  daughter's  heart 
was  never  free.  While  missing  her  father  sorely  in 
her  sorrowful  isolation,  she  realized  that  death  had 
come  at  the  behest  of  mercy.  As  long  as  he  lived 
his  enemies  could  assail  him  at  any  moment;  now  he 
was  comparatively  safe  under  the  snow  of  his  native 
hills.  If  it  were  possible  to  recall  him,  she  would  not ; 
she  preferred  to  suffer  alone  that  he  might  rest  in 
peace.  Two  days  before  she  had  gone  for  a  few  hours 

to  Y to  see  in  his  favorite  church  the  recently 

completed  tall,  arched  window,  ablaze  with  rose,  pur 
ple,  crimson,  and  emerald  glass,  erected  by  her,  "  To 
the  glory  of  God  and  in  memory  of  Allison  Kent." 

Depressed  and  heartsick,  she  often  sought  the  soli 
tude  of  the  mill,  but  in  the  grey  gloom  of  the  rafters 
above  her  head  a  pair  of  wrens  had  dwelt  for  several 
seasons,  and  now  resented  her  presence,  twittering 
their  protest.  Opening  the  New  York  and  Boston 
papers,  she  glanced  over  one  and  laid  it  aside.  Un 
folding  another,  her  fingers  clutched  the  sheet,  where 
headlines  had  been  reprinted  from  an  English  jour 
nal: 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  379 


"  RETURN  OF  THE  '  AHVUNGAH/ 

"  After  an  absence  of  more  than  two  years,  the 
'  Ahvungah '  has  brought  back  the  scientific  explor 
ers  who,  having  investigated  the  phenomena  of  Arc 
tic  midnights,  are  glad  to  return  to  less  rigorous  tem 
peratures.  The  second  winter  the  vessel,  while  frozen 
in,  was  lifted  upon  ice  hummocks  in  Whale  Sound. 
Deeming  the  '  Ahvungah  '  fast  until  early  summer, 
some  of  the  party,  availing  themselves  of  a  contin 
uously  shining,  two  weeks'  moon,  and  in  order  to 
avoid  sun  glare  later  in  the  season,  made  a  sledging 
trip  inland  over  the  '  Great  Ice,' — the  Sermiksoak,  but 
the  loss  of  their  dogs  cut  short  the  journey.  During 
their  absence  the  floe  holding  the  vessel  had  been 
broken  from  the  shore-ice  by  some  upheaval  unusual 
at  that  season,  and  had  drifted  many  miles.  While 
travelling  on  the  '  ice-foot '  to  overtake  the  '  Ahvun 
gah/  the  members  of  the  sledging  party  suffered  very 
severely.  Only  two  deaths  occurred  during  the  long 
voyage;  a  sailor  was  drowned  in  attempting  to  jump 
across  a  lead  that  closed  suddenly  after  he  fell,  and 
the  meteorologist,  Herr  Sprotmund,  succumbed  to 
heart  disease  while  climbing  a  glacier.  The  '  Ahvun 
gah  '  touched  here  only  long  enough  to  land  the  sur 
geon,  Dr.  Klinehurst,  and  the  mail  for  America,  then 
went  on  to  The  Hague.  It  was  learned  from  the  sur 
geon  that  two  gentlemen  of  the  party  preferred  to 
remain  in  Polar  regions  at  least  another  year — Pro 
fessor  Roy,  the  palaeontologist,  and  Mr.  Herriott,  of 
New  York,  who  is  much  interested  in  ethnography. 
Having  studied  the  Eskimos  of  the  Greenland  coast, 
they  crossed  to  the  west  shore  of  Smith's  Sound,  and 


380  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

will  make  their  way  slowly  through  Ellesmere  Land, 
hunting  traces  of  an  Innuit  tribe  they  believe  to  be 
the  descendants  of  the  Onkilon  of  Siberia.  These 
gentlemen  expect  to  meet  whalers  next  year  some 
where  along  the  west  coast,  but  should  their  plan 
fail,  still  another  winter  will  imprison  them." 

Until  this  spasm  of  pain  seized  her  heart,  Eglah 
had  not  realized  or  acknowledged  that  she  cherished 
any  hope,  save  that  God  would  preserve  the  life  of 
the  man  who  so  completely  renounced  her.  If  she 
had  vaguely  trusted  time  might  soften  and  remove 
his  bitterness,  she  understood  at  last  the  mock 
ery  of  a  delusion  that  she  had  unconsciously  indulged. 
Above  the  evensong  of  the  rippling  water  at  her  feet, 
rang  his  passionate  words  that  last  day  in  the  car 
riage  :  "  I  shall  try  not  to  come  home."  To  escape 
the  possibility  of  proximity  to  her  he  had  plunged 
into  unknown  wilds,  where  only  the  trails  of  foxes, 
wolves,  bears,  could  thread  the  silent  desolation,  and  at 
all  hazards  he  would  keep  the  promise  of  his  farewell 
note :  "  Your  path  in  future  shall  be  spared  my 
shadow."  Wandering  into  the  jaws  of  death,  rather 
than  see  her  again;  for  how  elusive,  how  slender,  the 
chances  of  meeting  whalers.  As  in  a  mirage  she 
seemed  to  see  him  on  the  colonnade  at  Nutwood, 
as  he  stood  looking  with  eloquent,  happy  eyes  at  her, 
assuring  her  father :  "  When  I  know  she  is  waiting 
at  home  for  me,  do  you  suppose  all  the  ice  in  Green 
land  can  shut  me  away  from  her?"  And  now  the 
Arctic  Circle  would  hold  his  chosen  grave,  because 
she  could  never  cross  it.  The  mail  for  America  held 
no  word  for  her;  but  doubtless  kind  messages  had 
come  to  an  old  man  whose  sunken  eyes  would  shine 
with  delight  over  tidings  from  "  the  lad." 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  381 

To  all  of  us  come  times  when,  self-surrendered  to 
depression,  some  psychic  imp  drags  from  mental  obli 
vion  and  shakes  fiendishly  before  us  ghoulish  images 
long  forgotten;  and  now,  as  purplish-grey  shadows 
gathered  in  the  mill,  Eglah  saw  that  vision  of  "  Were- 
Wolves,"  the  souls  of  wretched  men  fleeing  from 
light,  hiding  in  Polar  midnight. 

"  Each  panter  in  the  darkness 
Is  a  demon-haunted  soul, 
The  shadowy,  phantom  were-wolves., 
Who  circle  round  the  Pole. 
Their  tongues  are  crimson  flaming, 
Their  haunted  blue  eyes  gleam, 
And  they  strain  them  to  the  utmost 
O'er  frozen  lake  and  stream; 
Their  cry  one  note  of  agony 
That  is  neither  yelp  nor  bark, 
These  panters  of  the  northern  waste 
Who  hound  them  to  the  dark." 

The  voice  of  Mrs.  Mitchell  calling  her  name 
aroused  Eglah,  and  she  staggered  to  her  feet,  sway 
ing  slightly  as  from  a  stinging  blow.  That  silent, 
yearning  tenderness,  to  which  she  had  gladly  yielded 
for  so  many  months,  now  appeared  an  insult  to  her 
womanly  pride. 

Rejected  and  despised,  abandoned  forever,  made 
by  her  husband's  repudiation  a  target  for  gossip  and 
harsh  comment,  why  should  she  love  him?  Why, 
when  too  hopelessly  late,  had  her  heart  so  unex 
pectedly  followed  him,  refusing  to  relax  its  quest? 

Gathering  the  scattered  papers,  she  left  the  mill 
and  walked  toward  the  house.  As  the  core  of  an 


382  A.   SPECKLED   BIRD 

opal  the  west  showed  bands  of  pearl,  beryl,  sap 
phire,  rose,  and  when  twilight  stole  over  hillside  and 
dingle,  Venus  glowed  in  a  violet  sea,  so  large,  palpi 
tating,  brilliant,  she  seemed  a  golden  torch  flaring 
in  interstellar  currents,  to  light  the  way  of  the  thin 
young  moon  swimming  beneath  her.  Did  both  tor 
ture  the  were-wolves  ? 

At  the  gate  Eliza  waited,  and  putting  an  arm 
around  the  girl  drew  her  into  the  hall  of  the  cottage, 
where  a  lamp  hung  from  the  low  ceiling.  Under  its 
light  Eglah's  face  showed  white  and  rigid. 

"  Little  mother,  I  must  ask  you  to  leave  me  to  my 
self  to-night.  This  has  been  a  sad  day  in  many  ways. 
I  miss  my  father,  and  one  trouble  of  which  I  never 
speak,  even  to  you — the  only  one  who  loves  me — 
presses  heavily  upon  me  just  now.  There  are  the 
papers.  You  will  find  an  account  of  the  return  of  the 
'Ahvungah/  but  Mr.  Herriott  preferred  to  remain  an 
other  year.  Kiss  me  good-night,  and  ask  God  to  take 
me  soon,  soon — to  father." 

The  following  winter  was  long  and  cold,  with  flur 
ries  of  snow,  and  rattling  of  sleet,  and  it  proved 
monotonously  dull  to  the  two  women  shut  in  the 
small  house.  The  rooms  were  cosey,  with  curtains 
falling  to  the  bright  carpets;  and  roaring  fires  of  oak' 
and  pine  logs  reddened  the  walls  of  the  little  parlor, 
where  Eglah's  upright  piano  enabled  her  to  banish, 
at  times,  gloomy  retrospection.  Twice  Mr.  Whitfield 
came  for  a  day  and  night,  and  cheered  them  with 
news  of  the  outside  world. 

When  the  weather  permitted  Eliza  to  attend  her 
Sabbath-school  at  Maurice,  she  occasionally  per 
suaded  Eglah  to  play  the  organ  for  the  children,  but 
she  WSLS  annoyed  by  no  obtrusive  attention  on  the 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  383 

part  of  sympathetic  country  people,  whose  warm 
hearts  respected  the  heavy  mourning  in  which  she  was 
wrapped,  and  recognized  her  right  to  complete  se 
clusion.  At  college  one  of  her  favorite  studies  had 
been  Spanish,  and  without  giving  an  explanation 
she  now  applied  herself  to  it  with  renewed  interest. 
When  Eliza  questioned  her,  she  referred  vaguely  to 
the  liquid  melody  that  charmed  her  in  Spanish  poetry, 
and  expressed  a  desire  to  translate  a  volume  which 
pleased  her. 

No  allusion  to  Mr.  Herriott  or  his  home  now 
passed  her  lips.  Mr.  Whitfield's  anxiety  to  under 
stand  the  perplexing  conditions,  and  Eglah's  unwa 
vering  reticence,  led  him  to  interrogate  Eliza. 

"  Mr.  Whitfield,  I  can't  tell  you  what  I  do  not 
know.  Mr.  Herriott's  name  is  never  uttered  by  her, 
never  mentioned  now  by  me.  She  is  so  silent  she 
would  certainly  forget  how  to  talk  if  she  were  not  a 
woman.  She  intends  to  go  to  Europe,  and,  as  you 
know,  keeps  some  business  matters  in  readiness,  but 
no  date  has  been  fixed.  You  will  be  advised  in  time 
to  draw  up  her  will,  of  which  she  talked  to  me  about 
a  week  ago.  The  months  come  and  go,  and  the  dear 
child  is  always  as  you  see  her,  calm,  uncomplaining, 
with  lips  locked  as  a  statue's,  but  I  must  say  I  feel 
all  the  time  as  if  I  am  walking  over  a  grave  that  may 
suddenly  crumble  and  cave  in  under  my  feet." 

Returning  spring  was  welcome,  and  early  summer 
brought  once  more  the  solace  and  diversion  of  long 
rides  through  solemn,  lonely  pine  stretches,  where 
only  birds,  nature's  feathered  syrinx,  sounded  in  the 
silence,  happy  as  human  children  prattling  to  their 
mother. 

A  mute  acceptance  of  the  inevitable,  as  far  re- 


384  A    SPECKLED   BIRD 

moved  from  resignation,  as  from  pleading  protest, 
had  sealed  Eglah's  face  in  passionless  repose,  pathetic 
and  inscrutable.  Inflexibly  she  maintained  her  re 
solve, 

" — to  fly  no  signal 
That  the  soul  founders  in  a  sea  of  sorrow," 

and  solitude  was  her  refuge.  A  long  delayed  monu 
ment  having  been  completed  at  her  father's  grave, 
the  desire  to  visit  and  inspect  it  dominated  her,  and 
one  hot  day  the  two  women  went  North.  To  the 
devoted  child  bowed  at  the  feet  of  a  marble  angel, 
the  carved  lips  seemed  to  whisper  her  father's  fare 
well  words  of  commendation  and  tender  gratitude 
for  her  self-sacrifice  in  his  behalf.  Did  he  know  now 
all  it  had  cost — the  branding  humiliation,  the  fierce 
heart  hunger  she  had  found  only  when  she  offered 
herself  on  an  altar  that  crumbled  beneath  her? 

When  the  slab  was  covered  with  white  violets,  and 
she  had  pressed  her  lips  to  the  name  chiselled  on  the 
scroll,  she  put  one  hand  on  Mrs.  Mitchell's  shoulder 
and  pointed  to  a  grassy  plot  at  her  feet. 

"  Little  mother,  I  hope  it  will  not  be  long  before 
I  can  shut  my  tired  eyes  forever,  and  when  that  happy 
day  comes  I  want  you  to  bring  me  here  and  lay  me 
close  to  father,  at  his  left  side.  One  other  thing  you 
must  not  fail  to  do ;  after  I  am  in  my  coffin  be  sure 
you  take  off  my  ring — my  wedding  ring — and  if  Mr. 
Herriott  be  living  give  it  into  his  hand.  He  has 
wanted  it  back  since  the  day  he  placed  it  on  my  finger, 
and  only  God  knows  how  glad  I  shall  be  to  surrender 
it.  '  So  long  as  ye  both  shall  live  '  it  is  mine,  but  in  the 
grave  God  gives  us  back  our  vows  and  sets  us  free." 

The  cold,  hopeless  renunciation  in  face  and  voice 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  385 

was  more  than  the  loving  little  woman  could  endure, 
and  with  a  burst  of  tears  she  threw  her  arm  about  the 
girl,  pressing  her  to  her  heart. 

"  My  baby,  have  you  no  mercy  for  me,  that  you 
talk  so  cruelly  ?  I  shall  be  asleep  by  my  Robert  long 
before  death  calls  one  so  young  and  strong  and 
beautiful  as  my  own  dearie.  Please  have  some  con 
sideration  for  me,  and  don't  discuss  such  dreadful 
matters.  I  see  from  your  eyes  you  want  a  promise. 
Well,  if  I  outlive  you — preposterous — I  will  forget 
nothing,  provided  you  spare  me  all  heart-sickening 
talk  in  future." 

On  the  return  journey  Mrs.  Mitchell  wished  to 
stop  in  New  York,  but  Eglah  shrank  from  the  possi 
bility  of  meeting  old  friends,  dreading  questions. 
As  she  intended  to  see  her  cousin  Vernon  Temple 
for  a  day,  she  went  on  to  the  hotel  in  the  city  near 
Calvary  House,  where  her  foster-mother  joined  her 
after  a  day's  shopping  tour  in  New  York.  At  the 
Hme  of  Eglah's  visit  of  a  few  hours  here  with  her 
father,  and  while  her  cousin  was  at  Nutwood,  they 
had  discussed  plans  for  a  new  altar  much  needed  in 
the  chapel,  and  during  her  residence  at  the  Dingle 
she  had  submitted  a  design  duplicating  in  many  re 
spects  a  carved  and  pillared  shrine  she  and  Judge 
Kent  had  seen  near  Avignon.  The  Father  Superior 
and  her  cousin  gratefully  accepted  her  offer,  and 
before  she  started  to  New  England  a  letter  announced 
the  completion  of  the  altar,  and  expressed  the  hope 
that  she  would  be  able  to  see  it.  If  Mr.  Herriott  never 
returned,  she  locked  deep  in  her  heart  an  intention  to 
make  it  a  memorial  to  him,  the  donor  of  house  and 
estate  to  the  Brotherhood.  The  Provencal  model 

was  guarded  by  two  seraphs;  these  she  would  add 
25 


386  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

later,  if  the  White  North  kept  the  wanderer  folded 
forever  to  her  breast  of  snow. 

Of  celibate  organizations,  Romish  or  Protestant, 
Mrs.  Mitchell  distinctly  disapproved,  and  she  had  lis 
tened  with  ill-concealed  annoyance  and  uneasiness 
when  at  Nutwood  Vernon  Temple  expatiated  upon 
the  noble  work  accomplished  by  Episcopal  deacon 
esses  in  sisterhood  homes.  She  had  always  dreaded 
his  influence  over  his  cousin,  especially  since  her 
father's  death.  Calvary  House  was  as  the  threshold 
of  Rimmon,  and  when  the  carriage  approached  it  she 
exclaimed : 

"  I  have  no  intention  of  going  inside  that  monk 
ish  den.  How  a  sensible,  level-headed  man  like  Mr. 
Herriott  could  give  away  property  for  such  fanatical 
use  passes  my  understanding.  I  may  be  an  ecclesiasti 
cal  ignoramus;  I  certainly  am  a  '  narrow  Methodist '; 
but,  my  dear  baby,  I  can't  broaden  even  to  please  you, 
and  you  must  excuse  me.  I  had  a  catalogue  from  the 
great  poultry  farm  that  I  hear  is  only  a  mile  or  two 
farther  out  on  this  road,  and  while  you  see  your 
cousin  and  examine  the  things  you  gave  the  chapel, 
I  will  drive  on  and  order  some  white  guineas.  Here, 
don't  forget  your  box  of  embroideries.  I  shall  wait 
at  the  gate  for  you." 

The  bell  on  the  latch  rang  as  Eglah  passed  under 
the  gilt  cross,  and  at  the  front  door  the  porter,  a 
young  lay  brother,  looked  at  her  in  amazement. 

"I  wish  to  see  Father  Temple.  I  am  his  cousin, 
Eglah  Kent." 

"  He  is  not  here.  He  went  to  Philadelphia  yester 
day." 

"  Then  tell  the  Father  Superior — he  knows  me — 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  387 

that  the  lady  who  gave  the  new  altar  wishes  to  speak 
to  him  about  it." 

"  Father  Superior  is  holding  a  mission  in  New 
York." 

"  Where  is  the  sacristan  ?  " 

"  '  Free  time  '  has  just  begun,  and  he  has  gone  to 
look  after  his  beehives.  I  can  call  Father  Phillips." 

"  No.  I  do  not  care  to  meet  any  of  the  Brother 
hood  who  do  not  know  me.  I  was  here  once  with 
my  father,  and  Father  Temple  has  visited  my  house 
in  the  South.  I  came  merely  to  look  at  the  new  altar, 
and  bring  some  fresh  covers  to  the  sacristan.  Do  not 
disturb  any  one;  this  is  '  free  time/  and  I  must  not 
keep  you.  Please  say  nothing  about  me  now.  I 
shall  go  into  the  chapel — I  know  the  way — and  then 
return  to  my  carriage." 

He  opened  the  nearest  door  of  the  chapel,  bowed, 
and  disappeared. 

Before  the  carved  panel  in  the  centre  of  the  altar 
she  stood  some  moments,  rejoicing  that  the  sculptor 
had  succeeded  so  well  in  reproducing  the  cherub 
heads  running  as  a  frieze  between  the  columns. 
From  the  box  she  shook  out  two  pulpit-falls,  one 
embroidered  with  iris,  one  with  passion  flowers;  then 
a  chalice  veil  of  shimmering  white  silk  marked  with 
a  Greek  cross.  Beneath  these  lay  a  long  altar  cover 
of  snowy  linen  cambric,  "  the  fair  linen  cloth,"  stud 
ded  with  crosses  along  the  centre',  and  bordered  with 
annunciation  lilies. 

She  smoothed  and  arranged  it  on  the  polished  sur 
face  of  the  shrine,  while  a  vision  of  an  added  seraph, 
standing  in  memoriam  at  each  end,  shone  before  her. 
She  recalled  Tennyson's  inscription  in  Westminster 
Abbey,  where  one  wife,  widowed  by  Polar  perils, 


388  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

had  set  her  tribute  of  love.  To  her  the  sympathy  of 
the  world  went  out,  and  the  nations,  sharing  her  long 
search,  shared  her  sorrow. 

Misunderstood  and  censured,  Eglah  bore  her  bur 
den  alone,  and  now,  sinking  to  her  knees,  with  her 
forehead  pressed  against  the  marble,  she  prayed  that 
the  wanderer  in  desolate  lands  might  be  guarded 
from  every  ill  and  brought  safely  home.  Prayer  al 
ways  deepened  her  impression  that  he  would  return, 
and  as  she  rose  and  loitered  a  moment  in  admiration 
of  the  chiselled  stone,  her  sad  lips  whispered  to  her 
lonely  heart: 

"  He  will  come, — 
Ay,  he  will  come !     I  can  not  make  him  dead." 

Suddenly  her  heart  leaped,  then  seemed  to  forget 
to  beat.  A  voice  rich,  mellow,  unmistakable,  came 
from  the  arched  gallery  beyond  the  little  oratory 
opening  into  the  chapel : 

"  Roy,  you  are  no  baby,  and  my  singing  days  are 
over." 

A  feeble,  nervous  tone  answered : 

"  Herriott,  you  sang  life  into  me  that  awful  night 
after  you  carried  me  in  your  arms  behind  a  snow 
drift,  rubbed  my  frozen  hands,  and  tied  our  last 
dog  to  my  legs  to  keep  me  warm.  '  It  shall  be  light, 
it  shall  be  light ! '  How  the  song  soared  and  echoed 
in  the  terrible  silence  of  the  ice  desert,  as  if  spirits 
of  the  snow  caught  up  the  refrain !  Do  you  remem 
ber  that  ghastly  red  thread  of  a  moon  on  the  glacial 
line  above  us,  like  a  swooping  bloody  sickle?  Even 
in  my  blindness  that  infernal  moon  haunts  me  still. 
Just  then,  as  the  echo  died,  out  of  the  blackness,  as  if 
an  answer  to  a  prophet's  prayer,  the  swift  glory  of 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD 

the  aurora  swept  down  and  enveloped  us.  You  saved 
my  life,  and  before  you  leave  me  here  I  should  like 
to  hear  that  song  once  more.  I  suppose  I  am  childish 
yet,  but  in  my  blindness  you  might  humor  me.  Who 
wrote  that  song?  " 

"  You  are  such  a  hopeless  pagan  you  do  not  recog 
nize  the  Bible?  It  is  an  arrangement  of  two  verses 
in  the  Old  Testment :  '  And  it  shall  come  to  pass  in 
that  day,  that  the  light  shall  not  be  clear.  But  it  shall 
come  to  pass  that  at  evening  time  it  shall  be  light/ 
When  I  was  attending  lectures  in  Germany,  one  of  the 
professors  set  the  words  to  the  tune  of  an  old  Latin 
hymn,  and  the  students  began  to  chant  it.  That  night 
when  I  was  obliged  to  keep  you  awake,  it  occurred 
to  me.  Roy,  I  can't  humor  you  now,  but  I  intend 
to  take  you  and  an  old  man  at  home  down  to  Arizona 
to  thaw  the  Arctic  poison  out  of  you.  When  we  are 
stretched  on  a  sunny  mesa  where  the  air  quivers  with 
heat,  if  you  feel  the  need  of  more  light,  I  promise 
to  chant  your  song.  I  am  not  willing  to  abandon  the 
goal  that  we  were  so  near.  If  you  had  not  broken 
down,  we  should  have  found  those  stone  ruins  with 
the  inscriptions,  and  I  intend  to  see  them.  After 
a  while  I  shall  fit  out  an  expedition  to  suit  myself, 
and  if  you  can  get  rid  of  your  horror  of  that  baby 
moon  that  in  your  delirium  you  swore  was  a  bloody 
scythe  coming  to  cut  your  throat,  I  hope  to  number 
you  among  my  impedimenta." 

The  purple  curtain,  caught  back  only  during  ser 
vice,  hung  over  the  arch;  but  at  one  side  a  narrow 
aperture,  close  to  the  gilt  organ  pipe  in  the  oratory, 
admitted  outside  light. 

Irresistibly  drawn  by  the  voice  that  set  her  pulses 
surging,  Eglah  had  gone  to  the  arch,  and  grasping 


390  A   SPECKLED  BIRD 

the  velvet  folds  looked  cautiously  through  the  cleft 
between  organ  and  curtain,  across  the  small  oratory 
and  down  the  cloister.  On  a  cot  lay  an  emaciated 
man  whose  eyes  were  bandaged.  By  his  side  and 
fronting  the  oratory  stood  Mr.  Herriott,  his  hands 
in  his  pockets. 

He  looked  taller,  rather  gaunt,  somewhat  bleached 
in  complexion,  and  the  absence  of  mustache  showed 
the  fine  curves  of  his  peculiarly  firm,  thin  lips.  His 
eyes  were  lowered  to  the  sick  man's  countenance,  and 
the  thick  black  lashes  veiled  their  grey-blue  depths, 
but  over  the  handsome  face  had  come  a  subtle  change, 
etched  by  corroding  memories.  It  was  graver,  colder, 
less  magnetic. 

As  Eglah  watched  him  her  breath  fluttered;  in 
voluntarily  she  stretched  her  arms  an  instant  toward 
him,  and  her  eyes  lighted  with  a  tender  glow.  "  My 
own  Mr.  Noel.  My  own !  "  was  the  unspoken  claim 
of  her  heart,  momentarily  happy  at  sight  of  him. 
Then  Mr.  Herriott  put  his  fingers  over  his  friend's 
pulse. 

"  Vernon  promised  to  get  back  to-morrow,  and 
the  oculist  will  look  after  you  until  I  can  go  home 
and  see  about  my  neglected  household.  In  order 
to  avoid  press  publicity  and  inevitable  interviewing, 
I  am  keeping  my  return  secret  for  a  few  days;  and, 
clean-shaven  and  goggle-eyed,  hope  to  reach  my  house 
unrecognized,  where  I  can  smooth  out  the  tangles 
that  years  of  absence  tie.  Later,  business  will  force 
me  to  New  York,  and  I  shall  be  glad  of  a  glimpse 
of  my  old  club  life,  but  meanwhile  you  will  not  be 
forgotten.  Now,  Roy,  you  must  come  in.  One  of 
the  lay  brothers  will  help  me  lift  your  cot." 

As  he  advanced  toward  the  steps  near  the  end  of 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  391 

the  cloister,  Eglah  covered  her  face  with  her  heavy 
veil,  and  went  swiftly  through  a  side  door  of  the 
chapel,  down  the  gladiolus-bordered  walk  to  the  gate, 
where  the  carriage  waited.  As  she  sank  back  in  one 
corner,  keeping  her  features  veiled,  Mrs.  Mitchell 
laid  a  hand  on  her  knee. 

"  Well  ?  Are  you  satisfied,  and  did  the  altar  cloths 
fit?  Did  you  find  what  you  expected?  " 

She  did  not  answer  immediately,  and  when  she 
spoke  her  voice  quivered  through  the  effort  to 
strangle  a  dry  sob. 

"  I  found  far  more  than  I  expected,  and  the  altar 
is  lovely.  Everything  I  could  possibly  do  that  would 
have  pleased  father  I  have  done.  My  father,  my 
father,  have  I  spared  even  myself!  Memorial  win 
dow,  monument,  the  altar  here,  all  are  finished,  and 
now  nothing  remains  for  my  empty  hands.  My  dear 
little  mother,  you  are  so  good  to  me;  you  prom 
ised  you  would  go  abroad  when  I  felt  it  best  to  start. 
At  last  the  time  has  come,  and  I  wish  to  leave  Amer 
ica  within  the  next  week  if  possible." 

After  a  moment  a  long,  shuddering  sigh  made  her 
voice  unsteady. 

"  I  have  just  seen  Mr.  Herriott — safe,  strong,  and 
well.  He  will  never  know  I  was  so  near;  he  could 
not  see  me.  Accidentally  I  heard  his  voice,  and 
looked  through  a  curtain,  and " 

Mrs.  Mitchell  had  drawn  her  into  her  arms,  but  the 
black  crepe  was  held  over  her  face. 

"  The  public  will  be  kept  in  ignorance  of  his  return 
for  a  few  days,  and  before  his  arrival  is  announced  and 
people  begin  to  question  and  speculate,  I  must  be  on 
the  ocean.  I  was  so  close  to  him — so  close — and 
yet " 


392  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

A  wave  of  tenderness  drowned  words. 

"  Oh,  my  baby !  Why  did  you  not  speak  to  your 
husband?" 

After  a  struggle  for  composure  she  answered,  with 
a  cold,  rising  ring  in  her  tone : 

"  He  does  not  consider  himself  my  husband.  More 
than  three  years  ago  he  willed  we  should  be  strangers. 
He  built  the  wall  of  separation,  of  absolute  silence  be 
tween  us,  and  no  word,  no  sign  from  me  shall  ever 
cross  it.  He  is  within  his  rights.  I  dispute  nothing. 
I  claim  only  the  privilege  of  helping  him  in  his  effort 
to  avoid  me,  and  I  must  have  the  ocean  between  us. 
He  will  breathe  freely  when  he  feels  sure  that  by  no 
possible  accident  the  sight  of  my  face  can  ever  again 
affront  him." 


CHAPTER    XXVI 

"Willow  Creek  Plantation, 

"  Wednesday. 
"  Mr.  Herriott. 

"Dear  Sir:  Permit  me  to  say  at  the  outset  that 
these  lines  are  intended  solely  for  your  eyes,  and  I 
beg  you  will  regard  them  as  strictly  confidential.  If 
1  were  not  so  sure  you  are  an  honorable  gentleman, 
they  would  never  be  written.  On  the  i8th  my  foster- 
child  and  I  expect  to  leave  my  little  home  at  Willow 
Bend,  where  we  have  lived  since  her  father's  death. 
By  her  desire  we  go  to  Europe,  and,  as  we  shall  re 
main  there  indefinitely,  I  should  like  to  talk  with  you 
of  some  matters  that  concern  you — matters  I  am  un 
willing  to  mention  unless  we  are  face  to  face.  The 
railway  station  Maurice  is  near  me,  but  if  you  do 
me  the  favor  to  grant  my  request,  it  would  be  better 
for  you  to  avoid  Y and  come  directly  to  Sun 
flower,  ten  miles  north  of  Maurice.  If  you  can  be 
at  Sunflower  on  the  i7th,  I  will  meet  you  there 
when  the  one  o'clock  train  arrives.  Unless  you  come 
that  day,  it  would  be  too  late.  You  will  see  no  one 
but  me,  and  no  one  must  ever  be  told  I  went  to  Sun 
flower,  or  saw  you.  My  child  is  absent  in  Y , 

and  will  not  return  until  night  of  the  I7th,  when  I 
meet  her  at  Maurice.  Do  not  write  me.  Do  not 
telegraph  me.  I  scarcely  allow  myself  to  hope  that 
you  will  come,  and  if  I  do  not  see  you  I  shall  regret 
it  for  many  reasons.  If  I  fail  in  my  conscientious 


394  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

effort  to  right  a  great  wrong,  it  will  not  be  my 
fault. 

"  Very  respectfully, 

"  ELIZA  MITCHELL." 

Allowing  two  days'  margin  for  accidental  delays, 
Eliza  indulged  no  doubt  that  this  letter  would  reach 
its  destination  in  ample  time  to  enable  Mr.  Herriott 
to  keep  the  appointment,  should  he  consent  to  meet 
her,  and,  after  putting  on  a  special  delivery  stamp, 
she  mailed  it  at  Maurice  with  her  own  hand. 

The  probability  of  a  change  of  residence  had  been 
so  fully  discussed  that  preliminary  arrangements  had 
long  been  made;  but  the  early  date,  suddenly  fixed, 
necessitated  great  activity  to  insure  readiness  for  de 
parture. 

Eglah's  calm,  listless  indifference  had  given  place 
to  feverish  impatience  in  expediting  all  preparations 
incident  to  the  journey,  and  the  perplexed  and  anx 
ious  little  woman  who  watched  her  movements  was 
rejoiced  when  business  of  importance  called  her  to 

Y ,  where  Mr.  Whitfield  was  confined  by  gout  to 

his  room.  Since  the  day  at  Calvary  House,  Eliza  had 
observed  a  marked  change  in  Eglah;  the  wistful, 
hopeless  expression  had  vanished,  and  proud  defiance 
settled  on  her  face.  While  tortured  by  suspense,  she 
had  yielded  to  the  tender  yearning  of  her  heart;  but 
the  sight  of  Mr.  Herriott,  safe,  well,  and  strong,  con 
tentedly  planning  a  future  in  which  he  assigned  no 
niche  to  her,  stung  her  womanly  pride,  intensified  her 
longing  to  evade  forever  the  possibility  of  meeting 
the  man  who  had  so  completely  ignored  and  repudi 
ated  her. 

Some  delay  in  the  preparation  of  papers  Mr.  Whit- 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  395 

field  required  her  to  sign  kept  her  in  Y longer 

than  she  had  intended.  He  very  carefully  wrote  her 
will,  in  which,  following  the  trend  of  her  grand 
mother's  sympathies,  she  bequeathed  Nutwood  and 
adjoining  lands  as  a  Maurice  Home  "  to  childless 
widows  of  Confederate  soldiers  in  the  State."  To 
Vivian  and  Maurice  relatives  of  her  own  mother,  who 
refused  association  with  Marcia  after  her  marriage, 
and  whom  Eglah  had  always  avoided,  she  gave  one 
plantation — Canebrake.  To  Mrs.  Mitchell  Willow7 
Creek  Bend  was  left,  in  grateful  recognition  of  her 
loving  care;  and  all  personal  property,  stocks,  and 
bonds  were  devised  to  the  vestry  of  her  father's 
church,  for  the  erection  and  maintenance  of  a  memo 
rial  Chapter  House. 

Business  concluded,  she  telegraphed  that  on  the 
l/th,  at  eight  P.M.,  she  would  reach  Maurice,  and 
wished  Mrs.  Mitchell  to  meet  her  with  the  trap. 

At  nine  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  I7th,  the 
overseer's  wife,  desiring  to  avoid  the  passenger  train, 
went  in  the  caboose  of  a  local  freight  to  Sunflower. 
It  was  an  "  excursion  "  day  in  honor  of  the  opening 
of  a  Masonic  hall  just  completed,  and  many  strangers 
strolled  about  the  village  awaiting  the  hour  fixed  for 
the  dedication  ceremonies.  At  one  o'clock,  when  the 
fast  southbound  train  paused  long  enough  to  deliver 
the  mail-bag,  Eliza  stood  on  the  little  platform, 
watching  the  line  of  dusty  cars.  As  a  tall  figure,  va 
lise  in  hand,  stepped  from  the  Pullman  sleeper,  she 
did  not  promptly  recognize  the  clean-shaven  face, 
wearing  grey  goggles.  Handing  his  valise  to  a  negro 
porter  sitting  on  the  baggage  truck,  he  glanced  about 
him,  and  approached  the  little  woman,  who  was 
trembling  with  suspense. 


396  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

"  How  are  you,  Mrs.  Mitchell?  " 

He  held  out  his  hand. 

"  Oh,  Mr.  Herriott !  I  was  not  sure  it  was  you. 
Thank  God !  I  was  so  afraid  you  would  not  come/' 

He  took  off  the  goggles  and  dropped  them  in  his 
coat  pocket. 

"  I  dare  say  these  glasses  partly  disguise,  but  snow- 
blindness  left  my  eyes  rather  sensitive,  and  I  wore 
them  as  guard  against  railroad  dust." 

"  Come  with  me,  Mr.  Herriott.  This  little  place 
is  full  of  strangers  to-day  on  account  of  a  Masonic 
meeting,  but  there  is  a  quiet  spot  in  the  grove  yonder, 
where  a  recent  picnic  party  left  some  benches." 

In  silence  they  reached  the  grove  of  old  red  oaks, 
and  Eliza  sat  down  on  a  rough,  board  seat ;  but  he 
declined  to  share  it,  and  stood  before  her,  his  eyes  an 
interrogation. 

"  Mr.  Herriott,  I  asked  you  to  come  here  because 
you  are  pursuing  a  course  I  think  you  would  abandon 
if  you  knew  some  facts  that  only  I  can  give  you.  But 
first,  I  want  your  promise  that  no  matter  what  the 
future  holds,  you  will  never  let  Eglah  know  or  sus 
pect  that  I  wrote  you,  came  here,  or  saw  you.  If  she 
found  it  out  she  would  never  forgive  me;  she  would 
desert  me,  and  I  am  running  a  great  risk.  Give  me 
your  word  of  honor  to  keep  this  meeting  always 
strictly  confidential.  If  you  promise,  I  shall  feel  easy." 

"  I  promise.     You  may  trust  me." 

"  Thank  you,  sir.  Before  I  say  more,  will  you  tell 
me  if  you  still  love  your  wife  ?  " 

His  face  hardened  and  his  eyes  narrowed. 

"  Pardon  me,  madam.  I  did  not  come  here  to  be 
catechised." 

"  If  vou  have  ceased  to  love  her,  then  I  should  be- 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  397 

tray  a  holy  trust  by  lifting  a  very  sacred  veil.  I  can 
speak  freely  only  to  a  man  who  loves  her  as  she  de 
serves — and  as  I  have  always  believed  you  did.  If  you 
no  longer  love  her,  I  have  come  on  worse  than  a 
fool's  errand." 

There  was  a  brief  silence,  and  hot  tears  ran  over 
the  little  woman's  cheeks. 

"  And  if  I  love  her  still?     Go  on,  go  on." 
"  Then  why  are  you  breaking  her  dear  heart?  " 
"  Madam,  her  heart  has  never  been  in  my  keeping. 
You  must  know  that  for  years  I  made  every  effort  to 
win  it,  and  failing,  I  abandoned  the  hope.   Our  merely 
nominal  relation  was  dissolved  by  mutual  consent, 
and  I  gave  her  entire  freedom  before  I  started  North. 
I  have  never  been  close  enough  to  her  heart  to  wound 
it." 

"  Please,  Mr.  Herriott,  listen  to  me  patiently.  T 
must  go  back  so  far.  She  did  not  love  you  when  she 
married  you.  Why  she  so  suddenly  took  that  awful 
step  I  don't  know.  She  refused  to  explain.  I  be 
lieved  that  her  father  had  persuaded  her,  bti4-  she  as 
sured  me  he  had  no  knowledge  cf  her  intention  until 
after  she  had  voluntarily  made  her  decision,  and  she 
is  absolutely  truthful.  She  is  reticent  and  proud,  but 
of  false  statements  she  is  incapable.  She  has  never 
confided  the  motive  of  her  rash  marriage  to  me,  and 
what  she  is  unwilling  to  have  me  know,  nobody  else 
can  ever  tell  me.  Better  than  any  one  living  I  under 
stand  her,  and  when  she  came  back  with  her  father 
from  Greyledge  I  saw  a  great  change  in  her;  she 
was  not  the  indifferent  girl  whom  you  had  taken 
away.  The  estrangement  between  Judge  Kent  and 
herself  had  ended,  and  she  rejoiced  in  the  cordial  rec 
onciliation,  but  some  sad  mystery  in  the  background 


398  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

overshadowed  her  and  puzzled  me.  The  day  she  re 
ceived  that  express  package  from  you  she  suddenly 
seemed  to  go  frantic,  and  her  distress  was  so  over 
whelming  I  was  frightened.  Never  before  or  since 
has  she  shown  such  passionate  grief.  She  told  me 
she  had  wronged,  wounded  you,  and  that  you  would 
never  forgive  her.  How  she  wronged  you  she  would 
not  explain,  and  I  don't  know  any  more  now  than  I 
did  then.  But  she  insisted  again  and  again  that  you 
were  not  to  blame — that  it  was  entirely  her  fault,  and 
she  must  bear  the  sorrow  she  had  brought  upon  her 
self.  She  wrung  her  hands  and  begged  me  to  pray 
she  might  die  before  you  came  back  and  rejected  her. 
When  I  tried  to  comfort  her,  and  asked  why  you 
should  do  such  a  cruel,  unjust  thing,  she  wailed: 
'  You  loved  your  husband;  if  you  had  wounded  him 
past  pardon,  could  you  bear  to  talk  about  it?  Don't 
question  me.  Think  of  your  Robert,  and  try  to  real 
ize  how  I  feel.'  All  that  night  she  walked  the  floor 
of  her  room,  and  next  morning  she  looked  years 
older — so  white,  so  silent,  as  if  gazing  down  into  a 
grave.  Since  then  she  has  never  been  the  same  Eg- 
lah.  Something  in  your  last  message,  which  I  did 
not  see,  slew  her  peace  of  mind  for  all  time.  She 
shut  herself  away  from  society,  lived  exclusively  with 
her  father  and  with  me.  When  Judge  Kent  died  I 
dreaded  a  total  collapse  in  the  child  who  had  wor 
shipped  him  from  her  babyhood;  but  she  bore  the 
awful  strain  silently,  calmly,  surprisingly.  Mr.  Whit- 
field  put  his  arm  around  her  shoulder  as  she  stood 
by  the  coffin,  and,  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  the  old  man 
praised  her  devotion  and  her  bravery.  She  looked 
up  at  him  with  a  strange  smile  on  her  bloodless  lips. 
"  '  One  can  suffer  only  so  much,  then  numbness 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  399 

comes.  After  the  misery  of  many  months  a  last  blow 
does  not  crush.  The  petrified  are  not  always  where 
they  belong — in  the  grave.' 

"  After  the  funeral  she  closed  Nutwood,  moved 
her  books,  piano,  and  horses  down  to  my  little  cot 
tage  in  the  heart  of  the  pine  woods,  denied  herself  to 
every  one,  and  there  we  have  lived  in  strict  seclusion. 
Day  and  night  she  pored  over  books  of  Arctic  travel, 
and  on  the  walls  of  her  room  she  had  maps  and  charts, 
and  what  she  called  her  '  comfort  calendar/  that  she 
patched  together  from  almanacs,  to  mark  what  time 
day  and  night  began  near  the  Pole  and  when  the  new 
moons  were  due.  It  made  my  heart  ache  to  see  her 
face  each  day  as  she  searched  the  papers  for  some 
news  of  you.  At  last  she  ceased  to  expect  any,  and 
your  name  was  not  mentioned.  Mr.  Herriott,  do  you 
recollect  your  striped  silk  smoking-jacket,  with  pink 
poppies  embroidered  on  collar  and  cuffs  and  down 
the  front?" 

"  Yes.     I  had  such  a  jacket." 

"  One  sultry  summer  night,  about  one  o'clock,  I 
went  on  tiptoe  into  Eglah's  room  to  get  a  vial  of 
medicine  that  was  kept  in  a  closet  there,  and,  as  she 
slept  poorly,  I  tried  not  to  disturb  her.  Her  window 
was  open,  the  curtains  looped  back,  and  a  full  moon 
shone  in.  She  was  sitting  up  in  bed,  with  her  face 
buried  in  some  bright  wrapping,  and  a  sort  of 
strangled  moan  came  from  her.  I  \vent  to  the  bed 
and  asked  what  the  trouble  was.  Had  she  neuralgia 
in  her  face,  that  she  was  muffling  it  on  such  a  hot 
night?  Oh,  Mr.  Herriott,  if  you  could  have  heard 
the  quiver  in  her  voice ! 

"  '  No,  no.     Heartache — heartache  only  the  grave 


can  ease.' 


400  A    SPECKLED   BIRD 

"  Next  day,  while  she  was  away,  I  searched  for  that 
striped  thing  which  I  had  never  seen  before.  She 
kept  it  in  a  long,  satin-lined,  sandalwood  case,  among 
her  perfumed  laces,  and  when  I  examined  it  I  found  a 
smoking-jacket,  with  a  dog  whistle  in  one  pocket, 

and  in  the  other  a  handkerchief  marked  '  Herriott.' 
j » 

Mr.  Herriott  had  walked  away,  and  after  several 
moments  recalled  the  search  for  the  missing  jacket 
on  the  day  of  his  departure,  and  the  pride  with  which 
Amos  only  three  nights  ago,  had  shown  him  a 
warm,  quilted  cashmere  gown  "  the  madam "  had 
sent  him  because  the  jacket  left  for  him  had  never 
been  found.  When  he  came  back  to  the  seat,  he 
stood  with  his  face  turned  from  her,  and  she  could 
see  only  his  profile. 

"  Sir,  if  you  don't  hear  me  out,  you  can't  under 
stand  why  I  came.  Eglah  would  sit  for  hours,  a  book 
before  her,  her  hands  folded  in  a  way  peculiar  to  her — 
her  wedding  ring  against  her  lips — so  silent,  so  still, 
she  seemed  a  stone;  but  she  roused  to  a  manifestation 
of  interest  when  we  heard  your  old  gardener  was  ill 
and  needed  attention.  While  we  were  at  your  house 
she  seemed  more  like  herself  than  at  any  time  since 
that  express  package  reached  her;  but  a  deep  under 
current  of  sorrow  she  could  not  hide.  Over  the  house 
and  grounds  she  wandered  continually,  and  that  long 
lake  beach  was  her  favorite  walk.  Every  evening  she 
shut  herself  in  one  of  the  rooms  downstairs — I  think 
it  was  your  smoking-room — and  the  last  night  we 
were  there  she  spent  locked  in  that  room.  She  sent 
for  a  photographer  from  the  city  and  had  copies  taken 
of  your  mother's  portrait  and  of  yours — that  one 
hanging  next  to  your  father's  in  the  drawing-room. 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  401 

To-day  on  her  dressing-table  stand  two  pictures  of 
you  and  one  she  insists  resembles  you — the  photo 
graph  of  a  French  poet  she  saw  once  in  Aries.  She 
thinks  the  brow  and  eyes  and  nose  are  yours,  and, 
though  she  does  not  like  the  lower  portion  of  the 
face,  she  had  the  photograph  enlarged  and  framed. 
I  could  not  keep  my  tears  back  when,  leaning  from 
the  carriage,  she  took  her  last  look  at  your  home. 
There  was  such  a  world  of  suffering  in  her  sad  eyes, 
and  her  dear  lips  and  chin  trembled  like  a  little  child's. 

"  '  Being  here  is  next  best  to  seeing  the  master.  I 
can  never  come  again.  When  he  returns  I  must  be 
in  Europe,  out  of  his  way/  ' 

Mr.  Herriott  turned  suddenly  and  looked  down 
steadily  at  his  companion. 

"  Pardon  me,  Mrs.  Mitchell.  You  prefer  to  stay 
at  home  ?  You  do  not  wish  to  go  abroad  ?  " 

His  keen  eyes  searched  hers,  and  their  flash  an 
swered  him. 

"  Whatever  the  child  thinks  is  best  for  her  peace 
I  want  above  everything  else;  and  I  am  ready  and 
willing  to  go  with  her  to  Europe,  Africa,  the  Fiji 
Islands — to  the  ends  of  the  earth.  I  do  love  my  little 
home,  still  more  my  husband's  grave,  almost  in  sight 
of  it;  I  love  my  cows  and  my  chickens;  but  first  and 
last,  and  better  than  all,  I  love  my  baby,  who  came 
to  my  arms  when  she  was  three  hours  old,  and  who 
now,  in  turning  her  back  upon  an  unjust  world,  clings 
only  to  me.  I  never  took  an  oath  before  God  that 
I  would  '  for  better,  for  worse,  love  and  cherish  her 
till  death/  but  I  rather  think  my  love  will  abide,  will 
stand  all  tests  and  trials  that  have  crumbled  some 
other  vows  she  once  trusted." 

After  a  moment  she  added : 
26 


402  A  SPECKLED  BIRD 

"  Perhaps  I  have  already  said  too  much,  and  you 
may  not  care  to  hear  more." 

"  Madam,  I  wish  you  to  tell  me  everything  you 
think  it  best  I  should  know.  I  am  here  for  that  pur 
pose,  at  your  request." 

"  Eglah  was  terribly  hurt  to  find  Amos  had  heard 
twice  from  you  while,  consumed  with  suspense,  she 
had  received  not  even  a  line.  After  we  went  home 
she  grew  more  and  more  restless,  but  I  noticed  she 
carefully  avoided  any  allusion  to  you.  One  night  I 
heard  her  moving  about,  and  then  she  left  her  room. 
It  is  a  lonely  little  place  where  we  live,  rather  unpro 
tected,  and  the  servants — man  and  wife — do  not 
wake  easily.  Eglah  had  a  way  of  walking  about  the 
gallery  and  yard  when  she  could  not  sleep  that  made 
me  uneasy.  I  went  out  to  expostulate,  and  found  her 
sitting  on  the  steps  in  the  moonlight  with  that  jacket 
of  yours  in  her  arms.  I  sat  down  and  took  her  hand. 
In  a  horrible  dream,  she  had  seen  you  lying  dead  be 
tween  two  blue  slabs  of  ice,  a  white  owl  on  your 
breast,  and  she  was  hugging  and  stroking  that  striped 
silk  as  only  those  who  love  can  caress  the  garments  of 
lost  darlings.  You  know  she  very  rarely  cries.  In 
all  her  life  I  never  saw  tears  on  her  face  more  than 
three  or  four  times.  I  tried  to  soothe  her,  and  said 
that  full  moon  overhead  was  making  the  Pole  itself 
bright.  She  turned  suddenly  to  me,  the  tears  drip 
ping,  and,  oh,  if  I  could  give  you  the  heartbroken 
tone  in  which  she  said : 

'  The  broad  noonday  was  night  to  me, 
The  full-moon  night  was  dark  to  me, 
The  stars  whirled  and  the  poles  span 
The  hour  God  took  him  far  from  me/ 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  403 

"  After  that  night  she  guarded  herself  more  closely 
against  any  expression  of  feeling,  and  carefully  ab 
stained  from  all  reference  to  you  until  the  evening 
she  learned  from  a  Boston  paper  that  your  vessel  had 
returned  to  Europe,  and  you  had  preferred  to  stay 
in  Arctic  regions.  My  poor  baby!  She  looked  so 
white,  so  stunned,  as  if  some  one  had  struck  her  a 
heavy  blow." 

Eliza  sobbed  and  her  tears  streamed. 

"  Mr.  Herriott,  she  felt  assured  you  would  not 
come  home  because  you  feared  you  might  meet  her, 
and  then  she  asked  me  to  keep  my  promise  and  go 
with  her  to  Europe  as  soon  as  some  stone-cutting  de 
signs  could  be  rilled.  She  waited  only  to  see  three 
memorials  completed.  From  the  day  she  learned  the 
1  Ahvungah '  had  returned,  I  saw  a  bitter,  resentful 
element  beginning  to  invade  what  had  been  only 
regretful  tenderness,  and  her  lips  were  locked.  The 

window  in  the  Episcopal  Church  at  Y was 

placed,  and  soon  after  we  went  North  to  see  the 
monument  ordered  for  her  father's  grave.  I  dreaded 
she  would  break  down  there,  but  she  was  as  quiet 
as  the  marble  angel  of  the  Resurrection  standing 
on  the  slab.  She  showed  me  where  she  wished  her 
body  laid,  close  to  her  father's,  and  then  she  asked 
me  to  be  sure — after  she  was  safe  in  her  coffin — to 
take  off  her  wedding  ring  and  send  it  to  you,  because 
you  had  wanted  it  back  from  the  day  you  gave  it  to 
her.  She  refused  to  stop  in  New  York,  fearing  some 
of  her  friends  or  yours  might  see  and  question  her. 
Any  allusion  to  her  marriage  was  as  the  touch  of  red- 
hot  irons.  On  our  way  home  she  went  one  after 
noon  to  Calvary  House  to  see  her  cousin  Temple — 
the  priest — and  look  at  an  altar  she  had  given  him. 


404  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

I  waited  outside  in  the  carriage,  and  she  joined  me, 
holding  her  thick  mourning  veil  over  her  face.  As 
she  and  her  father  designed  this  altar  after  one  they 
had  seen  somewhere  abroad,  I  thought  her  silence  and 
evident  distress  resulted  from  its  association  with  him. 
After  a  while  she  said,  in  a  strange,  muffled  way,  that 
she  had  done  everything  she  was  sure  her  father 
would  like  if  he  could  speak  to  her,  and  now  her 
hands  were  empty,  and  she  wished  to  sail  for  Europe 
at  the  earliest  possible  date — probably  within  a  week. 
As  she  leaned  against  me,  and  I  held  her  hand,  I  felt 
her  shiver.  Then  she  told  me  she  had  just  seen  you 
at  Calvary  House,  strong  and  well,  and  she  must  leave 
America  at  once." 

"She  saw  me!     When?" 

Mr.  Herriott  had  grown  very  pale. 

"  A  week  ago  yesterday.  She  said  you  had  brought 
some  sick,  blind  man  there,  and  you  were  going 
home.  I  asked  her  why  she  did  not  speak  to  you, 
and  she  answered  that  three  years  ago  you  had  willed 
you  and  she  should  be  strangers;  you  had  built  a 
wall  of  silence,  and  no  word,  no  sign  from  her  should 
ever  break  it.  Unobserved  by  you,  she  had  seen  you 
in  the  cloister,  heard  you  talking  of  your  plans  for 
future  travel,  and,  fearing  discovery,  she  had  hurried 
from  the  chapel.  Since  then  every  nerve  has  been 
strained  to  get  away." 

Mr.  Herriott  walked  a  few  yards,  put  on  his  glasses, 
and  stood  for  some  time  with  his  hands  behind  him. 
A  sad,  perplexed  face  met  Eliza's  eager  eyes  when  he 
came  back,  and  for  the  first  time  seated  himself  be 
side  her. 

"  To  what  portion  of  Europe  are  you  going?  " 

"  To  Spain ;  to  a  quiet  little  place  hidden  away  in  the 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  405 

Pyrenees,  where  she  hopes  she  will  meet  no  one  who 
ever  heard  of  her,  and  where,  having  nothing  to  remind 
her  of  three  horrible  years,  she  can  try  to  forget  her 
suffering.  To  avoid  all  acquaintances,  she  will  not  sail 
from  New  York,  but  goes  directly  to  Charleston,  and 
thence  to  Havana,  where  she  can  take  a  steamer  to 
Spain.  I  think,  sir,  no  one  can  understand  her  ter 
rible  humiliation  in  being  rejected.  While  you  were 
away,  surrounded  by  dangers,  and  she  was  on  the 
rack  of  suspense,  tortured  almost  beyond  endurance, 
only  deep  and  tender  love  filled  her  heart.  Since  she 
has  seen  you  safe  and  well — yet  no  word  of  remem 
brance  has  been  sent  to  her — wounded  pride  pos 
sesses  her,  and  she  seems  indeed  petrified.  Even  now 
she  maintains  with  strange  composure :  '  He  is  within 
his  rights;  he  is  not  to  blame.  It  was  all  my  fault. 
I  made  the  mistake  of  presuming  too  far  on  his  love, 
which  was  less  than  I  counted  on,  and  I  deserve  my 
punishment;  but  sometimes  I  think  God,  who  saw 
my  heart  and  knew  I  did  not  intend  any  wrong,  might 
have  spared  me  some  of  the  bitter  dregs  I  have  had 
to  drink/  With  all  her  pride,  she  is  acutely  sensitive 
to  adverse  gossip.  From  childhood  she  has  borne  so 
much  on  account  of  her  father's  unpopularity  in  the 
State,  and  people  do  not  understand  her.  In  Wash 
ington  her  loyalty  to  the  South  and  to  the  Maurices 
subjected  her  to  sneers  and  much  unpleasantness. 
Her  sudden  marriage  and  subsequent  events,  especi 
ally  her  coming  home  before  you  sailed,  have  caused 
annoying  comment,  and  now  she  is  hurrying  through 

Y ,  anxious  to  get  away  before  the  fact  of  your 

return  is  known  there.  She  does  not  suspect  the  op 
position  manifested  by  some  of  the  vestrymen  to  that 
memorial  window.  Only  the  pleadings  of  the  rector 


• 


406  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

and  the  influence  of  Mr.  Whitfield,  who  is  not  an 
Episcopalian  and  who  had  no  cause  to  like  Judge 
Kent,  availed  to  smother  the  objections  to  its  erec 
tion.  This  mortification  we  have  managed  to  save  her. 
Now,  sir,  you  will  please  pardon  me  if  I  speak  very 
frankly.  What  passed  between  you  and  Eglah  after 
your  marriage  I  do  not  know,  nor  did  Judge  Kent. 
Her  lips  have  been  sealed,  but  I  have  often  thought 
the  estrangement  arose  from  your  discovery  of  the 
fact  that  she  did  not  love  you  as  she  should  have  done 
before  she  married  you,  and  therefore  I  have  come 
here  to  try  to  save  you  both  from  making  shipwreck 
of  your  lives.  If  that  was  the  cause  of  the  trouble,  it 
exists  no  longer.  She  loves  you  now  as  devotedly  as 
even  you  could  wish." 

He  shook  his  head  and  swept  his  hand  across  his 
face. 

"  Madam,  she  pities  me,  she  deplores  my  disap 
pointment;  perhaps  she  censures  herself  unduly,  but 
love !  She  knows  no  more  of  love  than  a  baby  in  its 
cradle.  She  never  will.  She  is  absolutely  incapable 
of  loving  any  man.  Too  many  have  tried  zealously 
to  touch  her  heart,  and  failed  as  signally  as  I  certainly 
I  did." 

Mrs.  Mitchell's  black  eyes  sparkled  through  her 
tears. 

"  Mr.  Herriott,  since  she  was  three  hours  old  she 
has  been  my  child.  I  know  her  as  well  as  I  know 
myself.  I  am  a  woman;  I  loved  my  husband  better 
than  my  life,  and  when  I  see  genuine,  loyal,  tender 
love  in  a  wife  I  know  it  as  surely  as  you  know  where 
the  sun  rises.  My  baby  did  not  love  you  when  she 
took  her  marriage  vows,  but  you  were  deep  in  her 
heart  when  she  came  home;  and  her  love  has  grown 
until  it  is  now  so  strong:  it  is  a  slow  torture,  from 


A  SPECKLED  BIRD  407 

which  she  would  gladly  escape  if  she  could.  Do  you 
suppose  a  woman  proud,  reserved,  cold  as  Eglah  is 
would  treasure  and  caress,  and  sleep  with  her  cheek 
on  a  man's  faded  old  smoking-jacket  if  she  did  not 
tenderly  love  the  wearer  whose  touch  had  made  it 
sacred?  Oh,  Mr.  Herriott,  if  you  could  have  seen 
her  all  these  years — her  patient,  hopeless  face!  If 
you  could  realize  the  life  she  leads  in  the  overseer's 
house  and  contrast  it  with  that  brilliant  past  when 
you  saw  her  admired  and  sought  in  New  York — even 
in  London — you  might  perhaps  understand  how 
changed  she  is.  I  longed  for  you  to  know  that  your 
wife's  heart  is  wholly  yours,  because  I  have  believed 
you  would  always  love  her.  If  she  ever  suspects  I 
have  told  you  her  secret  she  will  never  forgive — she 
will  disown  me.  You  must  not  cause  me  to  lose  my 
child.  Just  now  she  is  sorely  mortified  and  resentful, 
but " 

Eliza  paused  and  looked  at  the  man  beside  her,  but 
she  could  not  see  his  eyes. 

"  Please  do  me  the  kindness  to  finish  your  sen 
tence." 

"  But  if  you  could  meet  her  and " 

Again  she  hesitated,  discouraged  by  the  expression 
settling  around  his  mouth. 

"  In  consequence  of  a  voluntary  pledge  on  my  part, 
I  could  not  now  intrude  upon  her." 

"  If  you  called  and  asked  to  see  her,  I  am  sure  she 
would  decline  to  receive  you;  but  if  you  really  desire 
to  see  her  before  she  sails,  it  could  be  arranged  with 
out  her  knowledge  or  co-operation.  We  go  from 
Maurice  to-morrow  night  at  eight  o'clock  and  pass 

through  Y without  stopping.  Eglah  comes  from 

Y at  eight  to-night.  To-morrow  she  will  be  at 

my  house  all  day  until  four  o'clock,  when  she  goes 


408  A   SPECKLED  BIRD 

over  to  the  Willow  Bend  plantation  to  say  good-bye 
to  the  Boyntons  and  negro  tenants,  and  also  the  ten 
ants  and  field  hands  from  Canebrake  plantation, 
whom  Mr.  Boynton  will  have  present.  Eglah  usually 
takes  a  book  and  spends  the  morning  under  the  trees 
in  my  front  yard,  or  in  the  old  mill,  where  she  often 
sits  for  hours.  If  you  merely  want  to  see  your  wife 
again  before  she  passes  forever  out  of  your  life  you 
can  easily  do  so  from  the  shelter  of  my  butter-bean  ar 
bor,  which  is  near  the  trees,  and  she  will  never  know 
it.  If  you  care  to  speak  to  her,  you  may  be  sure  of  no 
interruption.  Mr.  Herriott,  God  took  my  husband, 
but  I  could  not  have  borne  my  loss  if  my  Robert  had 
voluntarily  taken  himself  from  me.  My  heart  aches 
for  Eglah.  She  is  indeed  my  all  in  this  world,  and  I 
have  risked  a  great  deal  to  put  you  in  possession  of 
the  truth.  She  loves  you  as  earnestly  and  tenderly 
as  you  could  wish,  but  it  remains  for  you  to  make  her 
admit  it — to  compel  her  to  confession.  Her  pride  has 
been  so  sorely  wounded  she  would  die  sooner  than 
move  one  inch  toward  reconciliation." 

She  looked  at  her  watch  and  rose. 

"  My  train  will  soon  be  due." 

As  they  walked  toward  the  small  station-house,  Mr. 
Herriott  held  out  his  hand. 

"  Whatever  the  future  may  hold,  I  shall  always 
thank  you  inexpressibly  for  the  confidence,  the  sacred 
trust  you  have  reposed  in  me,  and  I  will  never  betray 
it.  I  doubt  the  wisdom  of  seeing  Eglah.  I  know 
only  too  well  the  difference  between  true  love  and 
that  regretful  compassion  her  kind  heart  indulges. 
There  are  reasons  that  make  me  unwilling  to  violate 
my  own  pledge  to  her,  but  if  I  should  decide  to  go 
to  your  house,  will  you  direct  me  how  to  find  it?  " 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  409 

"  You  can  drive  to  Maurice,  ten  miles  south,  or 
take  the  night  train,  which  will  not  stop  here  unless 
it  is  flagged.  Once  at  Maurice,  any  one  will  show 
you  Willow  Bend  road.  When  you  pass  the  planta 
tion,  which  is  quite  a  settlement,  cross  the  bridge, 
turn  to  the  right,  and  you  will  soon  see  an  old  red 
mill  in  front  of  my  gate.  Here  comes  my  train." 

"  No,  madam;  not  your  train.  That  is  only  a 
freight-engine  and  gravel  cars." 

"  I  came  on  it,  and  I  go  back  the  same  way.  For 
many  reasons  I  prefer  to  keep  this  trip  as  secret  as 
possible,  at  least  until  after  to-morrow,  when  we  leave 
home ;  so  I  avoided  the  passenger  train  that  brought 
up  some  Maurice  Masons.  The  smaller  the  place, 
the  wider  the  eyes,  the  keener  the  ears,  and  the  more 
nimble  the  tongues  that  dwell  there.  Rufus  Boling, 
the  conductor  yonder,  expects  to  marry  my  favorite 
Sunday-school  pupil,  Minna  Gaines,  to-morrow  night, 
and  I  have  done  all  I  could  for  the  child's  wedding. 
Consequently,  though  the  railroad  officials  grumble 
and  forbid,  he  consented  to  let  me  ride  in  the  caboose, 
provided  I  would  not  sit  at  the  window,  and  promised 
not  to  sue  for  damages  if  I  lost  a  limb  or  an  eye  on 
the  trip.  Are  you  ready,  Rufus  ?  Good-bye,  Mr.  Her- 
riott.  I  have  done  my  best  for  my  child  and  for  you. 
God  help  you  both !  " 

He  took  her  hand  and  pressed  it  cordially. 

"  In  any  event,  you  may  rest  assured  I  never  shall 
cease  to  thank  you  for  your  effort;  and  life  will  always 
be  sweeter  because  of  some  facts  you  have  given  me." 

He  assisted  her  into  the  close,  .smoky  caboose, 
lifted  his  hat  and,  as  the  engine  pulled  slowly  out,  he 
took  off  his  glasses  and  walked  back  to  the  red-oak 
grove. 


CHAPTER    XXVII 

It  was  a  cloudless,  warm  day  when  Mr.  Herriott 
crossed  the  bridge,  and  walked  up  the  road  bordering 
a  creek  hidden  by  its  vivid  fringe  of  willows.  At  the 
ruined  mill  he  paused;  here  the  sandy  road  ended. 
Beyond  on  an  upland  towered  a  pine  forest,  its  organ 
pipes  whispering  as  the  south  wind  touched  the  trem 
olo;  in  front  nestled  the  small,  white  house,  partly 
veiled  by  rose  and  yellow  jasmine  vines,  and  all  the 
little  hollow  was  brimmed  with  cool,  green  shadows 
cast  by  trees  across  clustering  flower  beds.  A 
blended  perfume  distilled  by  dew  from  Herse's  crystal 
fingers  hovered  over  the  Dingle,  the  cold,  unctuous 
odor  of  tuberoses,  the  warm  spice  of  carnations,  and 
that  clinging  breath  of  wan  lilies  that  evokes  white 
faces  and  folded  fingers  of  the  dead,  but  stronger  than 
all,  the  fragrance  of  wild  grapes  in  creamy  bloom. 
More  than  cloistral  quiet  reigned;  only  the  rippling 
monody  of  water  feeling  its  way  over  the  crumbling 
dam  to  the  far-off  sea,  and  the  tinkle  of  the  spring 
runnel  sounding  low,  clear,  elfish,  as  if  some  Malis  or 
"  April-eyed  Nycheia  "  smote  her  tambourine  and  set 
silver  bells  ringing.  Once  from  the  green  silken  tent 
of  willows  a  shy  lark,  hermit  of  dells,  thrilled  the  si 
lence  with  his  resonant,  sylvan  roulade,  and  a  locust 
under  beech  boughs  answered,  clashing  his  brazen 
sistrum. 

The  blinds  and  windows  at  the  front  of  the  cottage 
were  open,  and  white  muslin  curtains  stirred  now  and 
then,  as  the  breeze  swayed  them.  Pots  of  flowering 


A  SPECKLED  BIRD  411 

geranium  and  heliotrope  were  grouped  on  the  piazza, 
and  among  them  slept  Delilah.  As  'Mr.  Herriott 
looked  at  the  humble  nest  of  a  home,  and  thought 
of  stately  Nutwood,  of  gilded  ballrooms  where 
Eglah  had  reigned  an  acknowledged  beauty,  he 
began  to  realize  the  monotony,  the  dreary  loneli 
ness  of  life  here  in  the  heart  of  almost  primeval  for 
ests.  She  had  elected  to  shut  herself  far  away  from 
the  brilliant  circle  of  former  days,  but  he  could  not 
believe  it  was  for  his  sake;  grief  for  her  father  had 
made  her  a  recluse. 

The  dazzling  possibility  with  which  Mrs.  Mitchell 
enticed  him,  he  had  put  aside  as  a  delusion  he  could 
not  indulge  a  second  time,  for  behind  it  was  the  biting 
mockery  with  which  he  had  once  grappled.  His 
nominal  wife  had  led  the  life  of  a  nun  during  his 
absence,  but  loyalty  was  far  removed  from  love,  and 
the  steps  of  an  altar  suited  her  nature  better  than  a 
husband's  arms.  For  many  hours  he  had  fought  the 
hope  that  would  smile  out  of  the  folds  of  his  old 
jacket,  but  the  intense  longing  to  see  her  again  con 
quered  reason,  prudence,  consistent  adherence  to  the 
line  of  action  he  had  voluntarily  prescribed  for  both. 
He  would  secrete  himself,  and  merely  look  once  more 
at  the  face  he  had  striven  ineffectually  to  forget,  and 
she  should  never  suspect  his  presence. 

At  a  little  distance  was  the  gate  of  the  low  wire 
fence,  but  he  stepped  across  the  wire,  and  passed 
through  the  open  door  of  the  dairy  to  a  tall  tulip  tree, 
around  the  body  of  which  coiled  the  brown  serpent 
of  the  muscadine.  Very  near  this  tree,  now  all 
aglow  with  its  orange-spotted  cups,  stood — on  the 
edge  of  a  verbena  bed — an  ancient  mimosa  in  full 
bloom.  Years  before,  an  August  gale  had  pollarded 


412  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

it,  and  lateral  branches  drooped  almost  to  the  ground, 
except  on  one  side,  where  they  were  cut  away  to 
frame  an  arch,  and  this  entrance  showed  a  wooden 
bench  set  against  the  trunk  of  the  tree.  To-day  it  re 
sembled  a  huge  Japanese  umbrella  of  olive-green  lace 
thickly  studded  with  pink  silk  aigrettes  that  shook 
out  waves  of  sweetness,  mellow,  fruity,  languorous. 
Looking  around  for  the  best  coign  of  vantage,  Mr. 
Herriott  noticed  the  narrow  arbor  covered  by  a  thick 
growth  of  butter-bean  vines,  where  he  stood  secure 
from  observation.  On  the  ground,  only  five  yards  dis 
tant,  lay  a  woman's  broad  black  straw  hat  tied  basket- 
fashion  with  its  ribbon  strings,  and  filled  with  spikes 
of  tuberoses.  By  cautious  pressure  of  the  bean  vines 
he  could  see  very  distinctly  the  front  of  the  house  and 
the  mimosa  seat. 

With  his  head  on  his  hand  and  a  throbbing  of  his 
heart  that  defied  control,  he  waited,  his  eyes  on  the 
hat,  he  never  knew  how  long,  until  a  sudden  thrill 
shook  him. 

From  an  invisible  corner  of  the  garden,  Eglah  came 
slowly  toward  the  arbor.  Her  mourning  gown  of  lus 
treless,  thin  black  silk  fitted  perfectly  the  curves  of  her 
finely  moulded  figure,  and  at  her  throat  she  had  fast 
ened  a  spray  of  white  star  jasmine.  High  on  her  head 
the  glossy,  gold-flecked  chestnut  hair  was  piled  in 
soft  loose  coils  and  puffs  that  caught  the  sunshine  as 
she  walked,  holding  in  the  clasp  of  one  arm  a  sheaf 
of  long-stemmed  lilies.  Advancing  until  she  reached 
the  hat,  she  leaned  down,  swung  the  knotted  ribbons 
over  her  right  wrist,  and  stood  a  moment  listening 
to  the  peaceful  woodland  message  of  the  lark.  Three 
years  had  wrought  a  marvellous  change.  The  rich 
promise  of  her  youth  had  expanded  into  an  almost 


A  SPECKLED  BIRD  413 

flawless  loveliness.  A  certain  girlish  slimness  had 
given  place  to  the  fuller,  rounded  lines  of  graceful, 
perfect  womanhood,  and  over  the  pathetic,  pale  face 
had  settled  a  passionless  repose  that  comes  only  when 
hope  is  dead,  and  silent  pride  sits  on  its  tombstone. 
As  she  held  the  lilies  with  her  left  arm,  the  hand 
gleamed  white  against  the  folds  of  her  black  dress, 
and  the  wedding  ring  flashed.  Her  cold,  exquisite 
purity  matched  that  of  a  Roman  vestal  on  her  way 
to  shrines,  but  her  large  brown  eyes,  looking  far 
away,  were  so  darkened  by  shadows  of  mournful 
memory,  of  helpless  yet  uncomplaining  renunciation, 
that  Mr.  Herriott  could  not  endure  the  sight.  He 
threw  his  hand  across  his  face,  and  strangled  the  im 
pulse  to  spring  to  her  side,  to  catch  her  in  his  arms. 
When  he  looked  again,  she  had  walked  away  toward 
the  house. 

With  a  book  in  her  hand,  Mrs.  Mitchell  ran  down 
the  steps. 

"  I  am  waiting  for  the  flowers,  before  I  close  the 
box  for  the  little  bride.  These  lilies  are  just  what  she 
needs  for  the  altar.  Give  them  to  me." 

Then  a  low,  sweet,  sad  voice  swept  the  heart 
strings  of  the  man  who  watched  and  listened. 

"  Do  not  forget  to  send  my  present.  I  put  my 
card  inside  the  case.  Dear  little  Minna,  I  hope  she 
may  be  happy.  If  her  husband  really  loves  her,  she 
enters  her  heaven;  but  if  not,  the  poor  little  thing 
will  soon  wish  the  burial  instead  of  marriage  service 
had  been  read  over  her  to-night.  I  trust  the  child 
may  never  find  out  that  a  tolling  bell  is  sweeter  than 
a  wedding  peal.  You  found  my  Baedeker?" 

"  Yes,  in  the  mill  where  you  left  it  a  week  ago." 

"  I  must  look  out  one  or  two  points  in  it,  and  the 


414  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

air  is  so  deliciously  sweet  I  think  I  shall  stay  a  while 
in  the  garden  on  this  last  Dingle  day,  unless  you  need 
me  to  help  you." 

"There  is  nothing  for  you  to  do  inside;  every 
thing  is  ready." 

"  Ma-Lila,  you  have  been  crying !  What  makes  you 
so  nervous?  You  are  trembling." 

"  Oh,  I  feel  upset !  Leaving  Robert's  lonely  grave, 
and  all." 

The  girl  stooped,  and  kissed  her  cheek. 

"  It  seems  very  selfish  to  ask  you  to  leave  a  place 
so  dear  to  you ;  but  I  hope  God  will  begin  to  pity  me 
at  last,  and  call  me  soon  where  I  shall  trouble  no  one 
any  more.  Then " 

Mrs.  Mitchell  laid  the  lilies  on  her  lips  to  close 
them. 

"  Hush,  my  baby — hush !  I  am  screwed  up  now 
like  a  frazzled  fiddle-string,  and  if  you  give  another 
twist  I  shall  just  go  to  pieces." 

Taking  the  flower-laden  hat,  she  placed  it  with  the 
lilies  on  the  step,  and  turned  toward  the  dairy. 

Baedeker  in  hand,  Eglah  moved  away,  but  as  she 
neared  the  arbor  she  looked  back  over  her  shoulder 
and  called : 

"  Little  mother,  when  Dorcas  brings  the  clothes 
she  kept  to  flute,  please  call  me.  I  ought  to  finish 
packing  my  trunk  by  one  o'clock.  Mr.  Boynton  says 
the  baggage  should  be  at  the  station  not  later  than 
five  o'clock,  and  you  know  we  have  to  shake  hands 
with  all  the  plantation  folks  at  four.  Where  are  you 
going?" 

"  Only  to  the  spring  house  for  the  cream  I  prom 
ised  Minna  for  charlotte-russe.  I  set  the  jug  there 
to  cool." 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  415 

"  Let  me  bring  it.     You  will  wear  yourself  out." 

"  As  if  you  knew  morning's  cream  from  that  two 
days  old !  Go  read  your  book." 

She  sped  toward  the  dairy  like  a  running  bird- 
and  though  she  did  not  turn  her  head,  the  black  eyes 
were  busy.  In  the  shelter  of  the  spring  house  she  fell 
on  her  knees  beside  pans  and  bowls  and  with  stream 
ing  eyes  prayed  that  after  the  battle  perpetual  peace 
might  come. 

Under  the  canopy  of  the  mimosa  Eglah  passed, 
seated  herself  on  the  bench,  and  opened  the  Baedeker. 
Through  the  lace  meshes  of  the  foliage  filtered  sun 
shine,  dappling  her  mourning  gown  with  gold,  quiv 
ering  in  the  waves  of  her  hair,  and  after  a  while  she 
pushed  the  book  aside,  laid  her  head  back  against  the 
trunk  of  the  tree,  and  her  long,  silky  lashes  touched 
her  cheeks. 

Mr.  Herriott's  glowing,  hungry  eyes  watched  every 
movement,  noted  the  outline  of  the  full  white  throat, 
the  listless  drooping  of  the  hands  at  her  side,  the  sad, 
proud  curve  of  sensitive  lips  closed  on  ceaseless  pain 
that  no  complaint  could  adequately  voice.  He  was 
unable  to  bear  any  longer  the  look  of  patient  hope 
lessness  that  each  moment  stabbed  his  heart.  At 
the  thought  that  this  was  possibly  his  last  sight  of  her, 
that  in  obedience  to  his  harsh  dictates  she  was  passing 
forever  out  of  his  life,  a  wave  of  invincible  protest 
surged  over  him,  and  before  its  passionate  fury  pride, 
resolutions,  his  pledges  of  renunciation  vanished.  The 
longing  of  many  years  seized,  mastered  him.  In  the 
sight  of  God  and  man  she  was  his.  He  would  possess 
his  own.  With  a  quick,  noiseless  stride  he  crossed 
the  narrow  space  that  separated  them,  and  entered 


416  A  SPECKLED  BIRD 

the  arch.  His  shadow  was  thrown  forward,  and  she 
lifted  her  eyes. 

For  an  instant,  a  bewildered  expression  drifted 
over  her  countenance,  then  her  features  settled  into 
a  marble  mask.  Her  eyes  shone  suddenly  with  a 
jewel  gleam,  as  when  a  lamp  flashes  over  the  face  of 
a  gem ;  her  lids  drooped,  and  she  rose. 

They  stood  only  a  few  feet  apart,  a  little  belt  of 
white  verbena  fluttering  flags  of  truce  between  them. 
His  bronze  face  locked,  his  eager  grey  eyes  starred 
with  the  glint  of  battle  probed  hers  for  an  instant; 
she  calmly  defiant,  colorless  as  the  jasmine  on  her 
breast. 

He  held  out  his  hand. 

"  Eglah ! "  His  voice  was  a  passionate  appeal. 

She  interlaced  and  clasped  her  own  fingers,  her 
hands  hanging  in  front  of  her. 

"  Mr.  Herriott,  I  am  very  glad  you  have  reached 
home  safely.  I  congratulate  you  upon  escaping  the 
dangers  of  your  Arctic  journey." 

"  You  are  not  surprised  to  see  me  in  the  United 
States?" 

"  Not  at  all.  I  happened  to  call  at  Calvary  House 
recently,  and  accidentally  I  saw  and  heard  you  talking 
in  the  cloister/' 

"  You  were  so  near,  so  near — yet  gave  me  no  in 
timation  of  your  presence?  " 

"  I  have  studied  and  learned  thoroughly  the  lesson 
you  selected  and  set  for  me ;  you  wished  to  avoid  me. 
My  schooling  was  effectual,  and  I  was  glad  to  gratify 
you." 

"  When  I  landed  I  went  first  to  Calvary  House  with 
a  suffering  human  wreck  whom  I  promised " 

"  Why  trouble  yourself  to  explain  what  concerns 


A  SPECKLED  BIRD  417 

only  you  and  your  sick  friend  ?  Your  reasons  I  have 
neither  the  right  to  ask,  nor  any  desire  to  hear." 

"  At  least  you  will  permit  me  to  thank  you  for  all 
your  gracious  kindness  to  Amos  Lea.  He  tells  me 
you  saved  his  life,  and  thereby  I  am  far  more  your 
debtor  than  is  the  poor  old  man." 

"  Never  my  debtor.  Amos  and  I  understand  each 
other,  and  I  was  glad  to  help  take  care  of  him.  You 
owe  me  absolutely  nothing  but  the  fulfilment  of  your 
own  unsolicited  pledges." 

"  Why  do  you  suppose  I  came  here?  " 

"  Why — indeed;  when  you  pressed  on  my  ac 
ceptance  the  promise  that  my  '  future  should  be 
spared  your  shadow  '  ?  I  presume  you  came  from  a 
chivalric  sense  of  imaginary  duty,  or  possibly  a  cour 
teous  semi-recognition  of  what  you  may  have  con 
jectured  I  might  regard  as  my  legal  claims.  I  have 
absolutely  none  of  any  kind,  along  any  lines.  Having 
renounced  and  banished  me,  perhaps  you  wished  to 
assure  yourself  that  the  condemned  is  at  least  not 
needy  in  exile?  By  what  right  could  you  expect 
me — disowned,  rejected,  scorned — to  desire  ever  to 
see  again  a  man  whom  once  I  trusted,  almost  as 
I  did  my  God?  To  whom  I  fled  as  sole  refuge 
from  the  infamy  that  threatened  one  supreme  in 
my  life,  and  when  like  a  frantic  child  I  clung  to 
him,  believing  he  loved  me,  he  shook  me  off,  as  if  a 
worm  crawled  on  his  hand.  After  the  whirlwind 
passed,  after  the  black  veil  of  death  mercifully  inter 
posed  and  hid  us  from  ruin,  I  came  to  my  senses — I 
realized  the  magnitude  of  my  error.  My  ideal  world 
had  crumbled,  you  alone  survived  the  wreck;  I  hon 
ored  you  for  your  loyalty  to  the  innocent  man  in  his 
grave,  and  God  knows  I  have  rejoiced  that  you  denied 
27 


418  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

my  prayer,  that  you  refused  to  perjure  yourself,  but 
— your  cruel  words  sank  deep.  While  I  could  not 
blame  you,  my  punishment  has  been  as  severe  as  I 
deserved,  as  keenly  mortifying  as  you  intended  and 
desired.  In  my  helplessness  and  sorrow  you  have 
humiliated  me  by  every  means  at  your  command, 
made  me  a  target  for  derision  and  for  slander.  Three 
long,  sad  years,  without  a  line.  Yet  you  found  a  way 
to  write  to  your  gardener." 

"  Yes,  I  knew  Amos  loved  me.     You  did  not." 

"  As  you  felt  assured  of  that  fact,  I  fail  to  under 
stand  why  you  have  come," 

"  Not  from  the  chivalric  motives  you  have  done 
me  the  honor  to  impute  to  me.  I  am  no  walking  code 
of  priggish  courtesy ;  I  am  merely  a  man  who  knows 
exactly  what  he  wants  most,  and,  missing  that,  de 
ceives  himself  with  nothing  less.  I  am  here  to-day 
solely  to  see,  at  least  once  more,  the  face  that  has 
held  my  heart  in  bondage  since  you  were  a  child.  To 
intrude  upon  you  was  not  my  purpose,  and  I  did  not 
intend  to  violate  my  self-imposed  limit  of  absolute  si 
lence,  but  I  could  not  resist  the  longing  to  look  into 
your  eyes,  to  hear  your  voice;  and  I  thought  I  was 
strong  enough  to  watch  you  a  little  while,  without 
your  knowledge,  and  go  away  forever,  leaving  you 
in  peace.  I  might  have  known  better.  The  sight 
of  you  shivered  my  own  compact.  I  have  suffered 
far  more  than  you,  and  if  my  harshness  wounded  you 
beyond  forgiveness,  remember,  oh,  remember,  how 
long  I  have  loved  you !  " 

"  I  can  remember  only  that  your  last  spoken  words 
were  a  vehement  request  that  I  should  forget  you." 

Her  lower  lip  fluttered,  and  she  caught  it  between 
her  teeth. 

"  Yes,  but  if  farewell  utterances  are  inexorably 


A   SPECKLED   BIRD  419 

binding,  you  must  pardon  me  if  I  remind  you  of 
yours.  All  through  the  gloom  and  bitterness  of  our 
separation  a  sacred,  sweet  voice  has  sounded  in  my 
ears  the  precious  words  of  promise  you  whispered 
when  your  arms  clasped  my  neck,  and  your  dear  face 
lay  on  my  heart :  '  You  will  never  be  out  of  my  life — 
my  own  Mr.  Noel.' ' 

A  vivid  rose  stole  into  her  cheeks,  and  she  leaned 
farther  back  to  increase  the  space  between  them. 

"  I  had  not  then  received  my  text-book — had  not 
learned  the  lesson  assigned.  After  that,  you  wrote 
your  final  mandate :  l  My  freedom  was  complete/  and 
you  urged  me  to  use  it  in  any  way  most  '  conducive 
to  the  happiness  so  unwisely  imperilled  '  by  my  rash 
marriage.  I  shall  endeavor  to  follow  your  counsel, 
and  if  you  had  waited  one  day  later,  you  would 
have  been  spared  this  unpleasant  duty-visit.  I  go 
away  to-night,  and  never  again  shall  you  be  annoyed 
by  even  hearing  of  me.  Mr.  Herriott,  in  spite  of  all 
your  wrongs,  at  the  last  you  trusted  your  name  to  my 
keeping.  I  have  indeed  held  it  '  sacred  as  the  Grail/ 
and  now  I  return  it  to  you  as  stainless  as  when  you 
gave  it.  I  am  leaving  America  to  find  an  obscure 
resting-place  in  a  strange  land  where  I  shall  be  known 
only  by  the  name  to  which  I  was  born;  and,  once 
across  the  ocean,  I  can  escape,  perhaps,  the  social 
gibbet  from  which  dangle,  deservedly,  '  women  with 
histories.'  I  have  no  need  of  your  name,  noble  though 
it  is,  to  help  me  keep  my  oath  to  God.  Divorce  I 
hold  a  shameful  blot  on  true  womanhood,  a  menace 
to  domestic  and  national  morality,  an  insult  to  the 
Lord.  Human  law  can  no  more  annul  my  marriage 
than  my  baptismal  vow;  neither  was  made  to  man; 
both  stand  on  that  divine  record  only  death  can  erase; 


420  A  SPECKLED  BIRD 

they  are  locked  among  the  sacraments  of  God,  '  so 
long  as  ye  both  shall  live.'  Your  freedom  is  as  uncon 
ditional  as  you  may  wish,  and  that  court  of  release 
which  you  commended  to  me,  is  equally  open  to  you.'5 

The  pulse  in  her  lovely  throat  throbbed  violently, 
and  watching  her  lift  one  hand  there  with  the  old 
childish  effort  to  loosen  the  stricture,  his  lips  tight 
ened  and  he  stepped  closer. 

"  And  if  I  decline  to  accept,  to  permit  your  renun 
ciation  of  my  name,  which  is  more  sacred  since  you 
have  worn  it  ?  To  make  a  football  of  God's  statute  is 
as  little  my  purpose  as  is  yours.  Sometimes  I  have 
cheated  myself  with  the  forlorn  hope  that  absence 
might  possibly  help  me  to  accomplish  that  which  long 
association  failed  to  bring  me.  After  years  of  suffer 
ing,  of  sombre  retrospection,  I  hope  I  have  come 
back  less  a  Tartar  than  when  we  parted.  Then  I  sur 
rendered  you  entirely — absolutely.  I  do  so  still.  1 
claim  no  more  rights  or  privileges  than  I  possessed 
before  that  marriage  ceremony  made  you  nominally 
mine ;  but  if  your  great  pity  for  the  lonely  man  who 
never  loved  any  other  woman  can  possibly  grow  into 
a  deeper  feeling,  will  you  try  to  forgive  my  harshness 
that  dreadful  night?  Knowing  what  you  are  to  me, 
will  you  come  to  me?  " 

"  Come  to  you  who  repudiated  me !  By  what  right 
dare  you  suppose,  expect " 

"  I  have  no  right  even  to  hope,  but  my  hungry 
heart  dares,  and  will  dare  desperate  chances." 

"  You  told  me  your  confidence  was  dead  as  your 
love.  The  scar  of  that  brand  can  never  heal." 

"  Yes,  I  said  many  bitter,  cruel  things  in  the  hot 
rage  of  my  disappointment,  that  I  should  be  glad  to 
forget.  In  extenuation,  you  must  remember  that  you 


A  SPECKLED  BIRD  421 

beckoned  me  unexpectedly  to  heaven,  and  when  I 
was  thrust  out  the  crash  unhinged  me.  It  was  for 
your  own  sake  I  asked  you  to  put  me  out  of  your 
life ;  to  save  you  from  the  horrible  martyrdom  of  un 
loving  wifehood,  from  dragging  through  life  the  ball 
and  chain  of  a  galling,  intolerable  tie.  To  put  you 
out  of  mine  I  knew  was  as  impossible  in  future  years 
as  I  had  found  it  in  the  past.  In  my  farewell  note  I 
considered  your  peace  of  mind,  not  my  own.  If  you 
could  realize  all  you  are  to  me,  perhaps  you  might 
understand  better  what  that  voluntary  surrender  of 
your  precious  self  cost  me,  when,  by  the  law  of  God 
and  of  man,  you  belonged  to  me." 

She  had  avoided  meeting  his  eyes;  the  strain  set 
her  lips  to  quivering,  increased  the  strangling  grip 
on  her  throat,  and  unconsciously  her  fingers  clutched 
and  wrung  one  another. 

"  After  three  years  of  dreary  absence  you  have  not 
even  a  friendly  hand  to  offer  to  the  man  who  has  car 
ried  you  in  his  heart  ever  since  you  wore  muslin 
aprons — who  holds  you  the  one  love  of  his  life  ?  " 

"  Mr.  Herriott,  you  ceased  to  love  me  when  you 
ceased  to  trust  me,  else  all  these  years " 

She  paused,  warned  by  the  treacherous  quiver  in 
her  voice.  He  stood  quite  still,  and  after  a  moment 
opened  his  arms. 

"  My  sweetheart,  will  you  try  me  ?  Will  you  grant 
me  the  privilege  of  convincing  you?  " 

She  shook  her  head.  Something  in  his  eyes  dazzled 
her,  and  an  alarming  pallor  overspread  her  face, 
blanching  her  lips. 

"  If  you  have  found  happiness  in  forgetting  and  ex 
cluding  me  entirely  from  your  life  and  your  future,  I 
cannot  complain  that  you  followed  my  counsel;  but 


422  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

I  will  accept  that  positive  assurance  only  from  your 
own  truthful  lips.  Your  peace  of  mind  is  more  to 
me  than  my  own.  Have  you  shut  me  out  of  your 
heart  forever  ?  " 

She  tried  to  move  aside,  to  pass  him,  but  he  barred 
her  escape  with  an  outstretched  arm,  and  she  shrank 
back. 

"  If  you  care  no  more  for  me  now  than  when  I  left 
you,  I  have  no  alternative  but  to  live  alone;  and  I  will 
never  again  intrude,  never  annoy  you  by  the  sight  of 
my  face.  I  will  not  accept  compassion,  or  friendly 
sympathy.  All — or  none.  I  want  love — love  that 
brings  a  pure  woman  gladly  to  her  husband's  breast. 
Once  you  took  some  solemn  vows  for  me,  invoking 
the  presence  of  the  Lord  you  worship.  Now,  trust 
ing  you  implicitly,  knowing  you  will  not  deceive  me,  I 
must  ask  you  to  give  me  one  final  pledge.  If  you 
cannot  love  me  as  I  wish — if  your  heart,  your  whole 
heart  will  never  belong  to  me — then,  calling  God  to 
witness  the  truth  of  your  words,  look  me  straight 
in  the  eyes  and  tell  me  so." 

She  trembled,  shut  her  eyes,  and,  as  a  rich  red 
rushed  into  her  white  cheeks,  she  covered  her  face 
with  her  hands. 

A  gust  of  wind  shook  the  mimosa,  and  on  her 
bowed  head  drifted  the  pink  silk  filaments,  powdering 
her  brown  coil  and  puffs. 

Very  gently  Mr.  Herriott  took  the  trembling  little 
hands,  kissed  the  palms,  and,  drawing  her  slowly,  ten 
derly  toward  him,  lifted  her  arms  to  his  neck,  holding 
them  there. 

With  a  low,  broken  cry  she  surrendered. 

"  Mr.  Noel,  you  have  broken  my  heart." 

He  waited  to  steady  his  voice. 


A   SPPJCKLED   BIRD  423 

"  My  proud  darling,  there  seemed  no  other  wa 
\\"hen  it  heals,  please  God,  I  shall  have  my  throne  in 
side." 

With  her  face  hidden  on  his  shoulder,  he  held  h 
close,  his  cheek  against  her  hair,  and  each  knew  ho 
fiercely  the  heart  of  the  other  throbbed.     After  some 
moments,  he  tightened  the  arm  clasping  her  waist, 
and  his  deep,  passionately  tender  tone  caressed  like 
a  velvet  glove. 

"  I  don't  know  how  many  years  I  have  longed  for 
the  touch  of  your  lips.  Even  as  a  child  you  never 
allowed  me  to  kiss  you ;  and,  except  your  father,  I  am 
sure  no  man  ever  has.  My  sweetheart,  if  indeed  you- 
are  learning  to  love  me,  can  you,  will  you  give  me 
now  what  I  want — my  own  wife's  pure  lips?  " 

She  crimsoned  to  the  tips  of  her  small  ears,  and 
clung  to  him,  not  daring  to  meet  his  eyes. 

"  One  memorable  night,  when  two  of  my  dogs 
froze  at  my  feet,  I  sat  under  the  lee  of  my  sledge, 
waiting  for  a  gale  of  sleet  to  howl  itself  to  rest.  I  fell 
asleep  and  had  a  heavenly  dream,  in  which  you  came 
and  kissed  me." 

"  Mr.  Herriott,  you  cannot  love  me  now  as  you  did 
before  that  horrible  journey  on  the  cars  when  your 
words  seemed  to  scorch — brand  me.  I  am  afraid — I 
am  afraid " 

He  felt  her  tremble. 

"  My  darling,  I  love  you  infinitely  more.  You 
were  never  so  sacred,  so  dear  as  to-day.  Of  what 
can  you  feel  afraid  now?  In  my  dream  you  were 
more  generous.  I  can  take,  but  I  prefer  to  receive 
the  blessed  seal  I  hope  you  will  give  me,  as  holy  as 
surance  that  you  are  entirely  my  own." 

Shyly  she  turned  her  flushed  face  towards  his,  one 


424  A   SPECKLED   BIRD 

hand,  quivering  like  a  frightened  bird,  softly  drew 
his  brown  cheek  closer,  and  the  proud,  beautiful, 
vestal  lips  nestled  and  clung  to  her  husband's. 

Sitting  beside  her  on  the  bench,  he  said,  as  his  bril 
liant,  happy  eyes  studied  her  face : 

"  Will  you  please  tell  me  when  you  began  really  to 
care  for  me?  " 

"What  can  that  matter  now?  Do  not  make  me 
look  back  into  shadows  I  wish  to  forget.  All  our 
light  shines  ahead." 

"  I  should  like  to  fix  the  date  of  my  coronation, 
that  I  may  compute  accurately  my  despotic  reign 
from  the  hour  I  entered  into  possession  of  my  king 
dom.  Tell  me,  sweetheart ;  why  should  you  shrink?  " 

"  Do  you  recall  that  last  morning  at  home,  when 
you  came  from  the  beach  followed  by  the  dogs  ?  See 
ing  me  at  the  window,  you  took  off  your  cap  and 
waved  it.  As  I  looked  down  at  you  then,  something 
strange  seemed  suddenly  to  stir  and  wake  up  and 
tremble  in  my  heart.  I  did  not  understand;  it  was 
a  new  feeling,  and  I  was  so  wounded  and  tortured 
over  many  things  I  could  not  analyze  it;  supposed 
it  a  part  of  my  punishment.  I  had  seen  you  look 
better.  Your  boating  suit  and  full  evening  dress 
were  certainly  more  becoming,  but  in  some  unac 
countable,  extraordinary  way  that  grey  cap  wave, 
and  the  peculiar  expression  I  had  never  before  seen 
in  your  eyes,  brought  you  closer  to  me  than  you 
had  ever  been.  When  I  sat  alone  in  your  smoking- 
room  and  saw  the  strapped  trunks  and  your  fur  over 
coat — like  a  coffin  and  a  pall — a  terribly  bitter  wave 
rolled  over  me  at  the  thought  of  giving  you  up.  I 
began  to  be  jealous  of  Amos,  and  I  envied  the  dear 
old  dogs  the  tender  caress  of  your  stroking  hand.  At 


A   SPECKLED  BIRD  425 

the  last  you  coldly  said  good-bye;  but  when  you 
caught,  strained  me  against  you,  I  found  out  what  it 
all  meant.  I  knew  then  that  woman's  heritage  of  sor 
row  was  mine,  and  that  my  heart  followed  you  into 
Polar  night.  The  ache  that  began  that  day  at  Grey- 
ledge  grew  and  tortured  me  until — I  felt  your  arms 
around  me  once  more." 

He  lifted  her  left  hand  and  kissed  it,  pressing  the 
ring  against  his  face. 

"  Why  did  not  you  tell  me?  I  should  have  been 
spared  so  much  brutal  bitterness  of  feeling." 

"  It  was  impossible  after  all  the  harsh,  cruel  things 
you  had  deemed  it  your  duty  to  say  to  me,  and  you 
would  have  scouted  such  a  sudden  change  of  feeling 
as  inconceivable,  as  absurd.  The  strangeness  of  the 
revelation  overwhelmed,  frightened  me;  I  was  more 
astonished  than  you  would  have  been.  Tell  you? 
Mr.  Noel,  I  would  sooner  have  gone  to  the  stake." 

'*  Your  silence  tied  me  to  one.  Men  are  perverse 
devils.  I  hated  the  sight  of  this  wedding  ring;  I 
longed  to  melt  it  in  a  crucible  in  my  laboratory.  You 
will  never  understand  the  storm  that  raged  within  me 
that  day  on  the  train  when  you  hummed  Kiicken  and 
laid  the  baby  on  your  breast.  Every  time  you  lifted 
your  hand  and  patted  the  poor  little  creature,  that 
gold  band  danced  and  flashed  in  my  eyes  like  a  mock 
ing  imp.  But  your  ring  had  its  innings.  After  a 
year  my  temper  cooled.  Day  and  night  I  found  my 
self  drifting  back  more  hopelessly  to  you ;  and  always 
before  me  your  little  white  hand  flashed  that  circle — 
signet  of  my  ownership — because  you  had  clung  to 
it  and  declared  '  it  was  the  badge  of  your  loyalty/  I 
saw  it  in  the  blue  gulfs  of  icebergs,  in  the  wonderful 
orange  radiance  of  auroral  arches,  in  the  glare  of  low, 


426  A    SPECKLED   BIRD 

tired  suns  that  could  not  set,  in  the  unearthly  lustre 
of  moons  holding  vigil  over  a  silent  desert  wrapped 
in  its  shroud  of  ice,  and  in  the  ghostly  phosphores 
cence  of  snow-mantled  glaciers.  Always,  everywhere, 
that  dear  ringed  hand  beckoned  like  a  beacon.  I 
knew  you  did  not  love  me;  I  was  grimly  sure  you 
never  would;  but  the  assurance  that  no  other  man 
could  ever  claim  lips  denied  to  me,  that  you  would 
proudly  hold  and  keep  your  precious  self  sacred  to 
one  whose  name  you  bore,  comforted  me." 

He  took  her  face  in  his  palms,  bending  close  his 
handsome  head,  and  a  mist  dimmed  the  sparkle  in  his 
magnetic  eyes. 

"  My  darling,  the  coldest  night  I  ever  spent,  when 
lost  on  the  '  Great  Ice,'  where  a  snow-storm  obliter 
ated  sledge  tracks  and  death  seemed  inevitable,  the 
remembered  touch  of  your  dear  arms  clinging  around 
my  neck,  the  pressure  of  your  face  on  my  breast, 
thrilled  my  heart,  fired  my  blood,  and  warmed  my 
freezing  body.  I  missed  the  Pole;  I  nearly  lost  my 
life;  but,  ah,  thank  God,  better  than  either,  more 
precious  than  all,  I  have  found  at  last,  and  I  own  the 
pure  heart  of  my  wife." 


ECCENTRICITIES  OF  GENIUS 

By  Major  J.  B,   Pond. 


"  It  is  distinctly  one  of  the  most  in 
teresting  books  of  the  year  from  any 
point  of  view." — Rochester  Sunday 
Herald. 

"  It  is  many  a  day  since  I  have  read 
so  fascinating  a  book  of  reminiscences. 
Many  a  day — or  perhaps  I  should 
have  said  a  '  night ' — for  this  volume 
has  given  me  delight  during  hours, 
\vhen,  according  to  the  laws  of  nature, 
I  should  have  been  asleep." — Newell 
Dwight  Hillis. 

"  One  of  the  most  simple,  naive  and 
straightforward  books  ever  written. 
It  fairly  reeks  with  personality.  .  .  . 
No  man  living  has  had  such  interest 
ing  association  with  so  many  inter 
esting  people." — Home  Journal. 

"  Adorned  by  many  pictures,  never 
before  published." — Detroit  Journal. 

"  Possesses  unparalleled  attrac 
tions." — Boston  Journal. 

"  Major  Pond  goes  deep  into  his 
subject,  furnishing  pen-portraits  that 
are  admirably  clear  and  graphic." — 
The  Mail  and  Express. 

''The  whole  book,  stuffed  as  it  is 
with  anecdotes  and  extracts  from 
personal  letters,  is  marvelously  inter 
esting." — Boston  Transcript. 


IS    SAID    OF" 


"AD  the  world  loves  a  teller  of 
stories,  and  readers  will  surely  take 
approvingly  to  the  man  who  gives 
them  so  much  of  entertaining  reading 
as  is  found  in  Major  Pond's  600  pages 
of  bright  personal  description." — 
N.  Y.  Times. 

"  Shining  by  reflected  light,  its  pages 
literally  teem  with  interesting  anec 
dotes  of  many  sorts." — Chicago  Even 
ing  Post. 

"Originality  stamps  the  volume, 
copiously  illustrated  with  portraits." 
•—The  Boston  Globe. 

"  It  has  a  thousand  charms,  and  a 
thousand  points  of  interest.  It  is  full 
of  striking  gems  of  thought,  rare  de 
scriptions  of  men  and  places ;  biogra 
phical  bits  that  delight  one  by  theii 
variety,  and  the  distinction  of  those 
alluded  to.  From  a  literary  view  it  is 
as  interesting  as  Disraeli's  famous 
"Curiosities  of  Literature."— Fhilar  < 
delphia  Item.  \ 

"If  any  more  charming  and  inter 
esting  book  has  appeared  this  season, 
it  has  not  come  to  our  notice.  The 
get-up  is  worthy  of  the  matter  of  the 
book."—  Philadelphia  Evening  Tele 
graph. 


It  is  a  handsome  octavo  volume,  5f  x  8f  inches,  of  620  pages,  with  nearly 
100  half-tone  portrait  illustrations.  Beautifully  bound  in  English  silk  doth, 
with  gold  stamp  on  side,  gilt  top,  At  all  Bookstores.  $3.50. 


THE  VOYAGE  OF  ITHOBAL 

BY 

SIR  EDWIN  ARNOLD 

Ithobal  was  the  first  African  explorer  we  know 
about.  He  was  a  sea  captain  of  Tyre,  who  rescued 
and  married  an  African  Princess,  and  then  induced 
the  King  of  Egypt  to  put  him  in  charge  of  a  voyage 
of  exploration  of  the  wonderful  land  of  his  wife's 
birth. 

After  a  voyage  of  fifteen  thousand  miles  around 
Africa,  he  returns  after  numerous  and  exciting  ad 
ventures,  which  bring  out  almost  every  feature  of 
African  life  and  scenery.  Ithobal  relates  the  story 
of  his  enterprise  in  a  discourse  of  seven  days  before 
the  throne  of  Pharaoh,  who  crowns  him  with  honors. 

SIR  HENRY  M.  STANLEY,  in  a  letter  to  the  author, 
says  of  it: — "You  have  added  greatly  to  the 
happiness  of  many  of  your  race  by  the  production 
of  so  unique  a  poem,  so  rich  in  the  beauties  of  the 
sweet  English  language." 

Other  able  critics  who  have  read  the  blind  poet's 
new  epic  poem  unite  in  calling  it  even  better  than 
the  old  favorite,  "  The  Light  of  Asia." 


Cloth,  Gilt  Top.     Illustrated  from  26  dr&wtoffS 
Arthur  Lumley.    $1.50 


EQUAL  PAETJTERS,    By  Howard  Fielding. 

By  HOWARD  FIELDING.  "This  is  a  thoroughly  enjoyable  de 
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$1.25 

DOBIS  KINGSLEY,  Child  and  Colonist, 

By  EMMA  RAYNER,  author  of  "Free  to  Serve,"  "In  Castle  and 
Colony,"  etc.  This  story  of  the  South  in  the  first  half  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  opens  with  one  of  the  strangest  episodes 
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of  treasure,  but  of  English  men  and  women ;  and  the  selling 
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colony.  Doris  Kingsley,  a  child  stolen  from  the  streets  of 
London,  is  the  youngest  of  the  party,  and  is  the  heroine  of  the 
story.  Doris  Kingsley  is  a  novel  of  absorbing  interest, 
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$1.50 

OLD  JED  PKOUTY  ( A  Narrative  of  the  Penobscot), 

By  RICHARD  GOLDEN  and  MARY  C.  FRANCIS.  In  "Old  Jed 
Prouty"  the  reading  public  is  presented  with  a  New  England 
character  story  of  unusual  interest  and  merit.  The  plot,  al 
though  not  an  involved  one,  hides  enough  mystery  to  lend 
the  spice  of  the  unknown  to  the  reader's  zest,  and  the  simple 
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homely  wit  and  the  quaint  philosophy  of  New  England,  is 
the  central  character  about  which  the  pivot  of  the  story  turns, 
"Old  Jed  Prouty,"  real  in  name  and  real  in  goodness,  who 
at  the  time  of  his  life,  some  thirty  years  since,  was  a  land 
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JOHN  WINSLOW. 

By  HENRY  D.  NORTHROP.  "  'John  Winslow'  is  one  of  those  in- 
viting  books  of  country  life  ot  which  the  best  part  of  '  Eben 
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is  a  book  for  a  wide  reach  among  readers." — N.  Y.  World. 

"  Properly  ranks  with  'Eben    Holden,'     'David   Harum,'  and 

•Quincy  Adams  Sawyer.'  The  four  may  be  put  in  a  class  by 
themselves  as  distinctive  types  of  homespun  Americans." — 
The  North  American. 

"Worthy  to  live  with  'David  Harum'  and  'Eben  Holden.'" — 
Publishers'  Weekly.  I2mo,  illustrated,  cloth  bound.  $1.50 

UNDER  A  LUOKT  STAB,  a  New  Book  on  Astrology. 
By  CHARLOTTE  ABELLWALKER.  Tells  what  occupation  to  adopt, 
and  what  line  of  life  to  follow,  what  associates  and  partners 
to  choose,  how  to  recognize  the  possibilities  and  limitations 
of  our  friends  and  ourselves,  and  of  other  important  matters 
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culled  from  the  minds  of  ancient  and  modern  philosophers. 
Illustrated,  cloth  bound,  ,  ,  t  ,  ,  ,  $1.50 

THE  WAT  OP  A  MAN  WITH  A  MAID, 
By  FRANCES  GORDON  FANE.    A  clever,  well-written  story,  full 
of  love  and  pathos,  and  thrilling  with  dramatic  crises.     Each 
step  of  the  domestic  tragedy  is  skilfully  portrayed,,  until  the 
final  climax  is  reached. 

"  Its  author  has  made  it  a  powerful,  telling  story  to  read." — 
N.  Y.  World. 
Cloth  bound.     .        t        f        ,        ,        ,        t        ,        $1.50 

THE  CROSSROADS  OF  DESTINY,  a  Story  of  Chivalry  in  the  Fif 
teenth  Century. 

By  JOHN  P.  RITTER.  Author  of  "The  Man  Who  Dared."  This 
is  a  wonderfully  interesting  story,  and  will  find  a  welcome 
with  all  who  love  to  read  of  deeds  of  chivalry. 
"  It  is  a  clean,  clear  and  clever  story  of  chivalry  at  its  best, 
and  will  find  a  great  many  well-pleased  readers." — New  York 
World.  Cloth  bound,  illustrated.  .  .  .  $1.25 


A  HASTE*  OF  FORTUIE,  being  Further  Adventures  of  "Oaptain 

Kettle, 

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that  remarkable  sea  dog.  The  volume  is  well  called  'A  Mas 
ter  of  Fortune.'  " — Philadelphia  Press. 

"Nobody  who  has  followed  the  gallant  sailor — diminutive,  but 
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THE  ADVENTUBES  OF  CAPTAIN  KETTLE, 

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Marryat.  Captain  Kettle  is  a  devil-may-care  sea  dog,  half 
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many  hairbreadth  escapes  and  makes  him  a  character  that 
will  live  long  in  the  annals  of  fiction.  The  success  of  this 
book  is  marvelous.  Over  80,000  copies  have  been  sold.  Il 
lustrated.  Cloth  bound $1.50 


THE  MULLIGANS.    A  Novel. 

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Harrigan  gave  to  his  Mulligan  dramas  the  most  distinctly 
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the  life  of  New  York  and  their  popularity  was  unbounded. 
His  book  is  one  of  the  most  generally  interesting  of  the  new 
season's  output." 

It  is  a  marvelously  entertaining  novel,  possessing  a  keen 
ness  of  wit  and  humor  unsurpassed  by  any  recent  work.  All 
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Ridge,  although  the  story  is  woven  in  fiction,  it  adds  an  in 
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Journal. 

"From  the  first  chapter  to  the  last  page  the  interest  of  the 
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Illustrated,  cloth  bound ,  $1.25 

JOHN  HENEY,  (25th  Thousand,) 

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